


At A Loss For Words

by Redezzy



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-03-14 14:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 32,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18949807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redezzy/pseuds/Redezzy
Summary: Josie Saltzman's words continue to fail her time and time again as she has encounters with the girl she's falling for, Penelope Park.Both girls are falling for each other, but neither wants the other to know.





	1. In A Trance

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Posie fic that takes place before they start dating. I'm not sure yet how many chapters it will end up being.

"Honestly, the worst thing you can do is stare."

Penelope's snide remark jolts Josie back to reality. She didn't even realize she had zoned out.

"Uh- I-," Josie sputters, unsure of her words, or herself, in this moment.

"Look, JoJo, it's not a big deal. Just remember, a picture lasts longer, and I'm always ready to pose," Penelope winks at Josie.

A now speechless Josie stares once again at Penelope, dumbfounded as she chooses that to exit on.

Josie is left with a whiff of Penelope's signature scent, a longing for her to come back and an open textbook in front of her. Knowing that after that encounter, there is no way she will be able to focus or get any work done, she closes her textbook and gathers up her many multicolored highlighters and notes. Standing and attempting to quell her palpitating heart, she takes a shaky step back towards her dorm. Exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding, she walks in a haze back to her room.

Lizzie finds her some time later laying on her bed staring into space.

"Jo? Hello? Can you hear me?" Lizzie attempts to get her sisters attention. Seeing this would be a futile task, she approaches Josie with caution, careful not to startle her out of her trance. Lightly sitting on the bed next to her, Lizzie gently touches her shoulder, "Josie, are you okay?"

Her sister's touch drawing her back to reality, she responds, "Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm fine. What time is it?"

Her sister's daze still puzzles her slightly, but Lizzie doesn't want to push, so she answers, "It's almost seven. Do you want to go get dinner?"

 _Seven o'clock? How could it be seven already?_ Josie thinks, _I was just leaving the library at five._

Remembering Lizzie's question, Josie says, "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. But, no, that's okay. I'm not hungry."

Becoming concerned, Lizzie pushes, "Are you sure? I could just bring you something if you don't want to leave the room."

Still slightly in a daze, Josie is only hearing half of what her sister says, but she sits up anyway. "No, that's okay. I'm good. But, don't worry about me, you should go get something to eat. I'll be here if you need me."

Begrudgingly, Lizzie stands and walks to the door and opens it, remarking, "Okay, Jo. I'll be back in a while," before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Still unable to form completely coherent thoughts, Josie stands and makes her way to her desk, hoping she can focus and finish the work she started earlier.

After staring at an open textbook for 20 minutes, Josie slams it shut with a huff, angry that Penelope has this kind of power over her.

Knowing she needs to get out of her own head, she quickly throws on a jacket and grabs her phone and keys, and starts to walk towards the school grounds, thinking a walk in the crisp, brisk air might help.

Since it was after seven during the fall, the sun was setting and the air was getting chilly. Josie shivers in her light jacket, wondering around the side of the school.

Hearing a giggle in the distance, she passes it off as the blustering wind and falling leaves. After all, the cafeteria was serving dinner at the time so it was unlikely anyone else would be out here.

Listening to the crickets chirping, Josie continues her trek around the school, trying her best to get Penelope out of her head.

As much as she tries, Penelope's signature smirk keeps making its way into the forefront of Josie's mind. Not only that, but Josie swears she hears another giggle that sounds like Penelope.

Her mind must be playing tricks on her. 

The sun was almost behind the trees now. Josie picks up her pace to reach the entrance again, because she doesn't want to be out here alone at night.

But maybe, after hearing the giggle for a third time, she wasn't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is much appreciated!


	2. Knight In Shining Armor

Turning the corner onto her way back to the entrance, Josie spots a shadowy figure by the wall. As she gets closer, Josie smells the perfume that is undeniably Penelope's.

How was she going to get out of yet another awkward encounter? She would either have to pass Penelope or turn around and go back the way she came. If she turned around, it would most definitely be dark before she got back. If she walked past Penelope, she could embarrass herself again.

Deciding to pass Penelope but pretend not to see her, Josie continues walking, keeping her head staring straight ahead as she passes Penelope.

"JoJo? Is that you?" Penelope says into the dark just as Josie passed her.

Grimacing, Josie turned to face her, "Oh, hey, Penelope, I didn't see you there."

Penelope's effortless, seemingly omniscient smirk took control of her face, "Hmm, okay. So, what are you doing out here so late at night? Do you need me to be your knight in shining armor?"

Once again, words were failing Josie. Forcing herself to smile as if she didn't desperately want Penelope to be her knight in shining armor, Josie replies, "Thanks so much for the offer, but no thanks. I was just taking a short, late-night walk."

Penelope's smirk wavers at the emotionless response, "Well, the offer still stands. Can I walk you back inside, I was heading that way too."

Seeing no way out of this one, Josie forces her smile up a degree. "Sure," she replies, hoping that the small distance between them and the door doesn't allow any chance for Josie to give Penelope any reason to believe that she was hopelessly falling for her.

Both girls fell in step as the crickets provided an excuse not to speak. The moon cast shadows around the girls as they walked side by side back to the school.

Once inside, Josie turns to Penelope and says, "Thanks for the escort but I have to go. I have to study."

Penelope's eyes flick from Josie's eyes to her lips and back to her eyes again. Looking past her to where Josie's dorm was, Penelope speaks, "Ah, I see. We have an academic in our midst. Can I walk you to your dorm? Mine is next to it and it's the farthest away from people in the current moment, and I want to get away from it all. That's why I was outside, it's peaceful out there at this time of night."

Faltering slightly at what seemed like heartfelt words from Penelope, Josie swallows hard and responds slowly, "As much fun as your first escort was, I really should just be going. Thanks anyways, though."

Before Josie can leave, Penelope half-heartedly says, "Okay, well, good luck with your studies."

And with that, Josie turns and takes careful, calculated steps away from Penelope, hoping she wasn't watching her walk away, because Josie was sure her legs were shaking, but feeling eyes on her back at the same time.

Silently thanking her legs for being able to move, Josie turns the corner and starts to walk faster to her room, wanting to get away from that situation as quickly as humanely possible.

Once safely behind her door, Josie collapses into the floor, her back against the door, taking deep breaths and trying to stop her hands from shaking. The walk was supposed to get Penelope out of her head, but instead it just put Penelope back into the forefront of her mind.

Knowing the studying was a lost cause, Josie changes into pajamas and starts to get ready for bed. It was barely nine o'clock but all Josie wanted to do was crawl under her covers and stay there until her mind was her own again.

But, as much as she wanted to do that, Josie knew Lizzie was worried about her, and going to bed at nine would not help that. So, Josie sat on her bed with an open book in front of her, not reading a single word, waiting for Lizzie to return.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the fact that Lizzie said she would be back soon, she did not return for another hour. And, as soon as the door opened, Lizzie was babbling about the night she had, ending with, "Oh, Jo, you should have been there, it was great."

Josie wasn't entirely sure every activity Lizzie had participated in would have been a three person thing. And besides, Josie was getting tired of being the third wheel.

Either way, Josie was not up for anything outside of this room. Even in this room, she couldn't do anything besides sit in a haze and daydream about Penelope.

She was falling hard and falling fast. Josie couldn't help but ache at the thought of Penelope being her knight in shining armor.

Frustrated that Penelope had taken up permanent residency in her brain, Josie cut Lizzie off mid-sentence, "That's great, Liz. But, I was actually just waiting up for you. I'm really tired so I'm going to go to bed now."

Lizzie's mouth hung agape. "Jo, it's only 10 o'clock. Why are you going to bed? Are you okay?"

Josie had heard the last sentence much too many times in the past night and was getting tired of it. Snapping back, "Yes, of course. I'm just tired."

Now it was Lizzie's turn to snap, "Fine, Jo, whatever. Goodnight." Then Lizzie proceeded to grab her jacket, storm out and slam the door behind her.

Josie had no idea where Lizzie was going so late, it was almost curfew, but, then again, she didn't really care.

Turning out the bedside lamp, Josie settles under her covers. Shutting her eyes, and hoping for a peaceful, non-Penelope filled sleep. However, her mind falls back into the night's theme as she drifts off into a dream where Penelope is the main character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Feedback is much appreciated!


	3. Your Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell by now, this is a slow burn story. But, I wrote a lot more chapters which will come out soon!

Awaking to her alarm clock, she notices that Lizzie never came back. Lizzie's bed is untouched and Josie is always the first one up. 

_Huh_ , she thought, _well, okay then_. Taking a deep breath, Josie gets up and begins to get ready for her day.

After getting dressed, Josie grabs the rest of the stuff she needs, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush.

Opening the door to hear a silent hallway reminds Josie of why she gets up so early, there's no one else there. It's the one time of the day most teenagers refuse to get up at, which means it's the one time of the day that is actually peaceful.

Sighing, she makes her way to the bathroom, hearing nothing but the creaking floorboards under her feet. 

Pushing open the door, she hears another sound. A person singing. Or rather, humming along to a song blasting out of one of the shower stalls.

As much as this bothers her morning routine, Josie thinks, _it's fine, it's just one person_.

As the song continues into its chorus, the girl in the shower stall belts out the lyrics. Josie can't help but smile as she realizes that one of her favorite songs is playing. 

Your Soul by Coasts continues to float out into the rest of the bathroom as Josie begins her morning routine.

She starts brushing her teeth as the song continues. Not being able to help herself, she starts singing along too.

_Ten thousand trees lie in wait for the fall_  
_Its far to easy to ignore the call_  
_Still gripped with fear before your eyes_  
_Get mad, stare into the dark of night_  


It wasn't the chorus, but Josie knew the entire song by heart. The upbeat aspect of the music behind the words made her think of summer.

Changing back into the chorus, both girls sing a little louder.

_Your soul won't hide your face_  
_Let me down for a second_  
_Time, a love you can't replace_  
_Give me a chance for a second time_  


Josie finishes brushing her teeth as the song ends. Leaning down into the sink, she splashes a little bit of water onto her face.

When she leans up, the curtain to the shower stall is drawn open, and a girl with raven hair is standing there, staring at Josie in the mirror.

Penelope. Josie's breath stops short as she sees Penelope in the mirror, in nothing but a towel. The necklace she always wears is still around her neck, glinting in the steam of a hot shower.

Josie slowly turns around to face Penelope, realizing that she had just sung along with the girl she was falling for to one of her favorite songs. Apparently, they had the same taste in music.

Josie couldn't help but notice the way Penelope's hair looked when it was wet. She didn't think anyone could look so beautiful when their hair was hanging in damp pieces around their face, but somehow, Penelope pulled it off. She managed to pull everything off.

None of her newly gained information from this morning would help her get Penelope out of her mind. She was everywhere she went. She was everyone she saw. She was everything she thought about. How did Penelope do this to her?

Penelope smiles slowly at Josie, Josie with her uncombed bed head, and wondered how anyone could look so beautiful at this hour of the day.

A beat of silence passes as both girls stare at each other in the mirror. 

"Hey, JoJo. I thought I was the only one up at this time. Usually, I get up earlier but I slept in a little this morning," Penelope says when she realizes that Josie was not going to initiate a conversation.

Josie gulps and forces her voice to work, "Um, yeah, I'm up every morning at this time. I like it because there's no one else around." Josie silently curses herself for oversharing, both her itinerary and her motives.

But Penelope doesn't miss a beat as she replies, "Me too. It's peaceful, isn't it?" 

Without waiting for a response, she continues with a sly smirk pasted across her lips, "Maybe I should sleep in a little more every morning, make this meeting a routine. By the way, you sounded great."

Josie was glad Penelope chose that as her exit line because she was sure her vocal cords had given up on her. Or maybe it was her brain. Either way, she wasn't going to be able to respond to that statement.

Staring into the steam of the shower stall, the two bickering parts of Josie fight for control.

_No, no, no, this can't be happening. We can't let this happen_ , one side resists. The side that never wants to leave her confort zone.

_Please let this be the new morning routine_ , the other side whispers. The side that is small and insecure but hopes beyond hope for it to happen.

Josie relents to either side as she grabs her hairbrush and starts brushing. Unbeknownst to her, she was humming Your Soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enoyed!


	4. Anywhere But Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals a little bit with mental health, so if it is a trigger for you, I just wanted to let you know.

After floating through another day of being numb to her surroundings, Josie makes her way back to her room, hoping to be alone for a little while.

Much to her dismay, she opens the door to find her father, Alaric, and Lizzie sitting on her bed.

When she enters, they both stand abruptly.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Josie nonchalantly asks while setting her stuff down on her desk.

Josie's back was still turned when her father cleared his throat and said, "Josie, we want to talk. Lizzie is worried about you and from what she told me, I am too. What's been going on with you lately?"

Her heart pounding, Josie spits out, "What is this? An intervention? You have got to be kidding me." Josie knows her tone is out of line but she feels backed into a corner with no way out.

Alaric takes an uncertain step toward Josie with his hand outstretch, "Look, baby, we know something is wrong. Please, just tell us. Talk to us, we can figure this out together."

Fuming, Josie snaps back, "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine. Why don't you start by asking Lizzie that question. She hasn't said a word this entire time, normally she can't shut up long enough for me to even get a word out."

Lizzie flinches at this statement, and sits back down on the bed, clearly not a part of this conversation.

Alaric tries again to get Josie to open up, "Josie, I'm going to let that one slide in this moment, but we need to talk. Lizzie says you're always daydreaming or staring off into space, she says she hasn't seen you do homework in days-"

Before he can finish that sentence, Josie cuts him off, ready to grill Lizzie again, "Well maybe that's because she's never here."

Alaric's voice hardens as he warns his daughter, "Josie, stop." 

Returning to his calm tone, he finishes what he started, "Look, I'm sorry. We just want to help. We know something is wrong. And, after our family history and Lizzie's episodes, we want to check on you. Make sure you're okay."

Rolling her eyes, Josie pushes back, "Seriously? You think I'm mentally ill."

Josie doesn't take offense to them considering whether or not her mental health is unhealthy. She knows that she is more susceptible to those kinds of issues than other people. She just starts to wonder whether or not they will still think that when they find out the truth about her.

Alaric's eyes stay pointed on the floor, "We just need to know that you're feeling okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and we can help. Please, Josette."

Faltering at the sound of her full name, Josie takes a step back. Alaric never uses her full name. It reminds him too much of their mother. This was serious. Too serious.

Regaining her attitude, Josie heads toward the door, flinging it open as she says, "I'm fine, dad. Oh, and by the way, thanks for telling him all that stuff Lizzie. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I have to be." _Anywhere but here_ , Josie finishes in her mind.

Wandering around the halls of the school, Josie's thoughts drift. She thinks about her father and her sister staging an intervention for her. She thinks about the real reason for her actions. She thinks about Penelope.

Her thoughts of Penelope lead her to stand in front of the raven haired girl's room. Without being able to stop herself, she knocks.

Before she can run away, the door opens to reveal Penelope in a black tank top and flannel pajama bottoms. "JoJo, what a nice surprise. Would you like to come in?"

Her brain and body were apparently still not on the same page because Josie wants to turn around and forget any of this happened, but somehow she senses her legs moving. And before she knows it, she's standing in the middle of Penelope's room, taking in the very essence that is Penelope Park.


	5. Her Essence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter but I was trying to give Penelope a person outside of Josie. They may also seem a little bit out of character at times because I wanted to explore another side of Penelope that isn't usually shown, so I'm sorry, but just bear with me.

Josie's mind catches up as she starts to take in all of her surroundings. A bed in the middle of one wall, perfectly made. A bookshelf packed with books of all shapes and sizes and colors and conditions. A table underneath a window filled with succulents. A comfy looking chair in the corner with a book laying in it, the bookmark indicating there was only a few pages left in it. A small table next to the chair with a steaming cup of hot chocolate sitting in the middle of it, on top of a coaster.

The entire room eminated Penelope's essence. It was the physical embodiment of Penelope's soul. And Josie loved every inch of it.

Josie realizes that she had interrupted Penelope's me-time, and jerks her head toward the other girl, "I'm so sorry to drop by like this. I have no idea what I'm even doing here. I see you were in the middle of something. I'm just going to-"

Penelope cuts her off, "Josie, it's okay. I was just reading a book. It's nice to have you here, I like your company. You see, usually I enjoy being alone and being away from everyone else. But you're different than them, and that's a good thing. Which is why I'm going to declare that your presence is always welcome here." 

Penelope had no idea why she was saying these things. She had no idea why she was letting her walls down for some random person she barely knew. But Josie wasn't a random person. Josie made Penelope feel safe and loved. And even though they had never even had a real and full conversation, Penelope felt drawn to Josie.

Obviously not expecting that, Josie smiles and replies, "Oh. I see. Thank you. Well okay, in that case, is it okay if I stay for a little while? We don't have to talk or anything, you can read and I could just sit here." Josie gestures to another chair in the corner.

Josie was 95 percent sure that the words coming out of her mouth were not her own. She didn't say she wanted to stay. She didn't ask if she could stay.

But she did. And Penelope answered her with, "Of course you can, JoJo. But we don't have to sit in silence. Besides, you seem off, is everything okay? Did something happen?"

Josie didn't know where to begin. Or how to begin. So, she just started talking. She told Penelope about the intervention. She told Penelope about why they thought those things. They did know yet. Josie had not yet told her father and sister that she was pan. And she was afraid to. Not because she didn't think they would be accepting, she just didn't know what would happen and she didn't want things to change. So, she told Penelope this. She told Penelope because she had already came out as bisexual and she wore it proudly, so Josie knew she would understand.

By the time Josie had finished rambling, she noticed she was crying. Could she really not even get through one conversation without having a breakdown? First it was snapping at her dad. Now, this.

She was crying in front of the girl she was falling for. But, as hard as Josie tried, she couldn't stop.

Penelope took one step toward Josie. Then another. And finally, to close the gap between them, one last step. Penelope scooped Josie into a hug and held her as she cried, occasionally rubbing her back to calm her down.

After crying her eyes out on Penelope Park, Josie pulled back and wiped her tear stained face with the backs of her hands.

Between deep breaths, Josie choked out, "I'm really sorry."

Penelope took Josie's face in her hands and forced her to look her in the eyes, "Stop saying you're sorry. Never be sorry for feeling things or crying, okay? Please, go easy on yourself. You have a huge heart, but you're always using it to help other people. You deserve to be happy." 

Seeing Josie had listened, Penelope said, "Now, come here," and pulled Josie back into a hug.

The two girls stayed wrapped up in each other's arms long enough that Penelope's hot chocolate had gotten cold.

Finally, the two released each other and Penelope said, "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like. I can make you hot chocolate if you want."

A smile emerged on Josie's face, brightening the entire room. Penelope smiles in response, "I'll take that as a yes. I'll be right back, make yourself at home." With that, Penelope exits her room with one last look at Josie, who was currently spinning around in place, trying to take in every aspect of the room.

After Penelope closes the door she realizes that her hands were shaking. She was nervous. The girl she was falling for was here, in her room, and she did not want to mess that up. She was trying her best to be nice and kind and to show Josie that she cared, and Josie made it easy. She only hoped that it would be enough to show Josie she was enough.

Normally, when Penelope is falling for someone, all of her walls went up. Her way of flirting was snide remarks and sarcasm. She didn't mean any of it, she just didn't want to be feeling anything. But Josie was different, and Penelope was trying to remind herself of that constantly. And she was trying to convince herself that it was okay to have real feelings for someone else.

Josie's eyes caught sight of one part of the wall. It was covered in what looked like hand drawn pencil drawings. Josie went to inspect them closer, and found that they were all signed _Penelope Park_ with the date it was finished underneath it.

The drawings ranged from many different topics, while all seemed to have the same vibe in them. A broken clock. A dragon. A steampunk tower. A tribalistic wolf. A potion vial.

They breathed Penelope. Josie could tell she had put her entire being into every drawing on the wall. She could also tell how much time Penelope had put into each little detail. Josie felt something when she looked at each one.

Sighing, Josie moved away from the wall of drawings and towards the bookshelf.

Penelope's bookshelf was overflowing. Some were new, some were old. Some were worn, some looked like they had never been touched. Somehow, Josie knew that Penelope had read every single book on this case at least once, but probably more.

Penelope's genres ranged from all sides of the spectrum. Classic. Young adult. Sci-Fi. Mystery. Josie even noticed one romance novel shoved towards the back.

The bookshelf brought her happiness. The drawings brought her happiness. The succulents under the window brought her happiness.

The entire room filled her with joy.

Sighing in content, Josie hears the door open behind her. She turns to see Penelope carrying a mug of hot chocolate.

The mug was a sock monkey mug. This little detail made Josie break out into the biggest smile she'd had in a long time.

Penelope crosses the room to where Josie was standing and handed the cup to her. "I hope you like it, it's my own personal recipe."

Somehow, this doesn't surprise Josie. She takes a sip and replies, "Wow. This is amazing. Thank you."

Clearly hoping for that kind of reaction, Penelope breaks out into a grin. "Anytime."

A beat of silence passes before Penelope breaks it, saying, "Do you have somewhere you need to be, or can you stay for a little while? Only if you want to, of course."

Josie looks at Penelope with shock written in her eyes. She barges in. She tells Penelope her recent sob story. She cries into her shoulder. And after all of this, Penelope made her hot chocolate and asked her to stay.

When Josie doesn't respond, Penelope panics. "I'm sorry. You probably do have somewhere you need to be. That's okay." 

Penelope thinks she's ruined it all. She was too forward and now she's scaring Josie off. Why did she always do this? Somehow, someway, Penelope always manages to do or say the wrong thing.

Realizing her mistake, Josie tries to fix it, "No! No, I don't. I just didn't realize you would still want me here, you know, after everything."

Sighing with relief, Penelope replies with what she hopes is a sincere tone, "Like I said, you are always welcome here. I like your company."

Josie didn't notice how fast her heart was beating until this statement. "I like your company too. You know, when you let your walls down, you're not as intimidating as you seem."

"So now you know. But don't tell anyone, I have a reputation to upkeep."

Josie lifts the mug to her lips and takes a sip. She only smirks in response and raises an eyebrow, as if to say, "Yeah, okay, sure."

"I'm serious, Saltzman. Don't you dare." Her threatening tone is contradicted by the grin spread across her face.

Sighing Josie says, "I wouldn't even dream of it. Look, Penelope, as much as I want to stay, the whole intervention situation ended with me storming out after saying things I didn't really mean. And I need to apologize. And I think its time to tell them, about me. I'm sorry, thanks for the hot chocolate though."

Josie sets her now empty mug on a side table and walks to the door, only turning around when Penelope says, "Good luck, JoJo." Hoping she wasn't being too forward again, she attempts, "Maybe we could finish this some other time?"

Josie smiles at Penelope as she closes the door, hoping that she could work up the courage to do exactly that. She also hoped that her brain didn't try to remember this encounter as embarrassing, because then she wouldn't be able to look Penelope in the eyes again.

When there was a wooden barrier between the two girls, both exhaled. Penelope wished Josie would come back and Josie wished she could go back.

Sighing, Josie turned towards her dorm and began to walk with a determined stride, planning out her apologies in her head on the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was this chapter? I love hearing from you guys!


	6. Unconditional Love

Josie stood in front of her door, hands trembling before she could muster up enough courage to open it.

Remembering to breathe, she pushed open the door very slowly to find her sister laying on the bed with her father sitting next to her.

When Josie entered, her father stood and began speaking, "Josette, we need to talk. I understand you're going through something but we can't help unless you tell us. And just because you're having a hard time right now does not give you the excuse to be rude to your sister."

Before she could stop herself, Josie was crying again. Between sobs, Josie was able to get out, "I know. And I'm so sorry."

Taken aback, Alaric pauses before he rushes to her and wraps his arms around her, calmly shushing her and saying that everything would be okay.

Josie pulled back and went to Lizzie's side, "Lizzie, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I didn't mean any of the things I said."

Lizzie sat up abruptly, obviously still upset, but saw her sisters state and softened, "It's okay, Jo. We've all been there. Just, please, tell us what's wrong."

Josie slowly stood and began her explanation, "I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. It's just, I felt ambushed and backed into a corner so I got defensive and lashed out. I didn't mean what I said. Recently, I've been distracted and, Lizzie, you were right to tell dad about it. Look, the truth is," Josie paused and took a deep breath as she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Exhaling and shutting her eyes, ready to face the music, she finished, "I'm pan. And I was afraid to tell you because I didn't know how you would have reacted. But I talked it over with somebody earlier and they said that I deserved to be happy. And the only way that was going to happen was if I started accepting myself and wearing my pansexuality proudly."

A beat of silence passed before Josie, who still had her eyes closed, heard a floorboard creak and a bed squeak. For a split second after that, Josie panicked.

But, then, she felt two pairs of arms wrap her into a giant hug and she knew everything would be okay.

If Josie's eyes had been open, she could have seen the reaction on each of their faces when she said that. If her eyes had been open, she would have seen nothing but love and acceptance.

Alaric was the first to break the silence, "Oh, baby, nothing you could ever do or say or be would ever change how much we love you. Thats why it's called unconditional love. I'm sorry that we gave you reason to believe we wouldn't react like this."

Lizzie spoke next, "And I'm sorry that I haven't been here for you these last few days. Honestly, your sexuality doesn't really matter to me. You're my sister, and I love you."

Josie didn't respond to that, she just relished the feeling of boundless love and safety she felt in this moment.

After hugging for enough time that Josie had stopped crying, the group broke apart. Alaric left saying he had to handle something in the office, but also inviting both girls to dinner in an hour, and promising to play board games after that.

The two girls stood in silence after the door shut, unsure of what to do next.

Lizzie broke the silence by saying, "Dinner and game night. Classic dad."

That statement made both girls burst into laugher, and Josie responded, "You have to love him for it though. Oh, and, by the way, I will crush you at Monopoly tonight."

Lizzie glared at her sister and feigned competitiveness, "Dream on, you're going down."

Josie smiled and took in every part of this day. The intervention, Penelope, and now coming out. Josie didn't know why she had been so terrified, deep down she knew this would be how they would react. They had always been openly accepting of everyone and every situation, so Josie had no reason to believe she would be any different.

Even as she thought that she realized how relieved she felt. She had been carrying around what she thought to be a huge secret that was a part of who she was and it had become too much. But now the weight had been lifted.

Suddenly, Josie realized that she only wanted to share this encounter with one person. Penelope. After all, the talk they had earlier was what pushed her over the edge and convinced her it was time.

Hugging her sister one more time and saying, "I have to go do something. I'll be back for dinner."

Lizzie sat back down on her bed and replied, "Okay. Have fun," as Josie shut the door behind her.

Turning towards Penelope's room, Josie smiled. She walked up to the door and knocked, for the second time today. Only this time it was purposeful.

Penelope opened the door and moved aside to show Josie she could come in. In the time she had been gone, Josie had forgotten how much she loved Penelope's room. 

Sighing with content, Josie turned to face the other girl, "I did it! I told them!"

Penelope smiled and ran to hug Josie, "Congratulations! Now, how do you feel?" Pulling away from each other, Penelope stared at Josie.

Pausing, Josie took a deep breath to assess, "I feel great. I feel like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. And I have you to thank for it."

Eyes glinting, Penelope responds, "No, you don't. This was all you. And I'm proud of you for it."

For another time today, Josie felt loved, "Thanks, I'm proud of me too."

Both girls smiled at each other before Josie added, "I have to run off again, I just wanted to come by and tell you. I'm having dinner and a game night with my dad and Lizzie."

Penelope smirked, "Once again today, Saltzman, you leave me wanting more. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me."

Josie stopped, both breathing and thinking. After a long beat of Josie standing completely still from shock, Penelope added, "I'm just kidding, JoJo. Now, you have a dinner to get to. And a game night. If you play Monopoly, will you please absolutely demolish Lizzie for me?"

Reminding herself to breath, Josie replies with a laugh, "Definitely. Thanks again, by the way. Have a good evening."

Before Penelope could respond, Josie was out of the door with it shut behind her. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Penelope was onto her. She knew.

Or maybe she didn't. Penelope said stuff like that all the time to everyone. If anything, Josie's reaction proved it.

However, Josie didn't have time for this freak out right now. She had a celebratory dinner to get to.


	7. Victorious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short but I wanted to finish what I started last chapter with the family.

Three hours later, they were knee deep in Monopoly after splitting an entire cheese pizza. The three of them had smuggled it in, waiting for the delivery at the gate because Alaric didn't normally allow deliveries directly to the school. If you ordered something or recieved mail, it would either go to the town post office or the school's indoor mail collection office, depending on what it was.

Alaric set back as he let his two daughters duke it out. _Maybe Monopoly was the wrong choice_ , Alaric thought as he watched Josie charge Lizzie 2000 dollars for landing on her property of Boardwalk, which had a hotel on it.

Alaric was no longer in the game as Josie had bankrupted him two turns ago. He landed on Waterworks and Josie took him for all he had, mercilessly.

When it came to game night, the nice, puts-everyone-before-herself Josie went out the window and was replaced with a hyper-competitive, need to win Josie. This was her version of bloodthirsty. Very few people had seen this side of her.

Watching Lizzie count out all of her remaining money and mortgaging all of her property, she was coming up 37 dollars short. As Lizzie groaned in frustration and defeat, Josie sat back with a smug smile splayed across her lips.

She emerged victorious. She had done Penelope proud. And she couldn't wait to tell her that.

As they were putting away the game, Lizzie proposed, "How about Uno? I'll bet you all or nothing for Monopoly, Josie."

Alaric laughed and said, "I think Uno may be stretching the loving atmosphere, Lizzie. Everyone knows what Uno does to people. It brings out the worst in them." Seeing his daughter's faces he adds, "Maybe another time."

Both girls smile and glare at each other as if to say, "You're going down." It was tradition after all, competitive game night. Winner gets bragging rights until they are dethroned.

Yawning, Alaric says, "Okay girls, this was fun, but I think I'm going to head to bed now. I hope you sleep well. Goodnight." Standing, he kisses both girls on the top of their heads before turning and heading towards his room.

Josie puts the lid on the the game and puts it away on the shelf in her father's office, the shelf that was dedicated to only board and card games. Most were recent ones that they still decided to play sometimes: Monopoly, Uno, Scrabble, Apples to Apples. But there were a few on the bottom shelf from the days when the twins were young: Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders. There were also multiple regular decks for playing card games that didn't require any specific decks: War, Rummy, Speed. There were also games that needed four players, for when their mom was visiting, such as Taboo. However, the majority of the games only needed at least two people: Scattergories, Life, Clue, Battleship, and a Checkers/Chess combo.

Anyone in the school was welcome to come and borrow one but they rarely did. It was possible that Alaric hadn't explicitly told them they could, as a way to keep it for only his family, but maybe they just didn't want to. That's why it had become their sacred family tradition, anytime when something happens in their lives, or for no reason at all, they have a dinner and board game night as a way of bonding.

The girls moved the chairs back to the corners of the room where they had gotten them from and Josie grabbed the empty pizza box to throw it away.

After the box had been deposited in the kitchen's trash can, and buried under the other trash to hide the evidence of their contraband, the girls headed to get ready for bed.

It was nearly eleven, so they were breaking curfew by a few minutes but Alaric had known that they needed this night as a family. He had just told them not to get caught, because he didn't want the other students to think he gave out special treatment. Normally, he didn't, but with everything that had been going on recently he knew that the girls had earned this, and he wanted to spend some time with them.

Once in pajamas, Josie slides into bed and pulls the covers up to her shoulders. Lizzie lifts them up and then climbs in next to her and cuddles her.

Both girls stare at the ceiling before Lizzie says, "I know I said it earlier, but I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you. You needed me and all I could focus on was myself, as per usual, and I made you think you couldn't tell me something important. I don't care who you want to date, it doesn't matter to me. I just want things to go back to the way they used to be. Us, acting like sisters."

Josie sighs and says, "Yeah, me too. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I don't know why I didn't." Josie knew that by everything going back to the way it had been, she would be putting herself on the backburner, but she didn't mind. She knew that Lizzie would be in the spotlight again, but Josie didn't mind because that was what felt normal to her. And the only reason for not coming out was that she didn't want things to change, and if everything went back to normal, then they wouldn't.

Josie had thought that coming out would have been a bigger deal than it really was, and maybe she had wanted it to be. But right now, laying here with her sister, she couldn't remember why.

Lizzie replies, "Its okay. All is forgiven. Now, let's get some sleep." 

The blonde girl didn't make any move to leave her sister's side, though. Lizzie draped her arm around Josie and both girls settled in next to each other. Soon, they both fell into a deep sleep.


	8. Back To The Library

In the morning, Josie woke to her alarm and slowly shrugged her way out of her still sleeping sister's arms. She got dressed and grabbed her stuff to begin her morning routine.

With a brightness in her eyes, she opened the door and hoped that there would be another early morning Penelope sighting. She pushed open the bathroom door to be let down by an empty room, the light in her eyes dimming with the disappointment.

Frowning, she got ready for her day in silence, not bothering to play any music from her phone like she normally would.

Later, in History of Magic, she noticed that Penelope never showed up. Josie still looked over her shoulder multiple times to Penelope's seat, though, hoping the girl would come in late. But, she never did.

After classes had ended for the day, Josie went to Penelope's room to try to find her. She knocked on the door and waited. Normally, the door would open within a few seconds. But, this time, it didn't open at all.

Josie took out her phone to text Penelope before she realized that she didn't even have her number. Technology did have it's upsides, but lacking Penelope's number, it was useless in this situation.

Sighing, Josie shoved her phone back into her pocket and started walking back to the common room, hoping Penelope would be there.

On her way there she passed MG. He gave her a head nod as they passed each other and Josie suddenly remembered that he and Penelope were friends. _Maybe he knows where she is_ , Josie thought.

Quickly turning around and following him, Josie called after him, "MG, wait up!" She walked fast to catch up with him.

MG turned to see Josie right behind him, "Hey, Josie, what's up?" Not expecting her to be so close, he jumped a little when he turned around.

Not bothering with small talk, Josie rushed into what she needed to ask, "Have you see Penelope? She wasn't in class today and I knocked on her door but she never answered. I would text her but I don't have her number."

"Uh, no, I don't think I've seen her today. We were supposed to meet up at lunch but she never showed. I just figured she forgot or something. I texted her after to see, but she never responded."

"Um, okay. Do you know where she could be?" Josie was desperately fishing at this point, and she hoped that MG wouldn't see through her. 

"There are a couple places she likes to hang out at when she's not in her room. I would try the library or the garden outside. Why do you need to see her so badly?"

Josie tried to keep a straight face and respond nonchalantly, like a normal person would to that question. "Thanks for the info, MG. I just want to check on her and see if she needs the notes from class today." She held her breath to see if he would buy it.

"You're a good friend, Josie. See you around," MG walks off in the direction he was going before Josie stopped him. She exhaled shakily, her adrenaline pumping from narrowly avoiding a catastrophe.

 _The library, of course, how could I not have thought of that?_ Josie wonders.

Entering the library Josie remembers the first time Penelope spoke to her. The light was hitting Penelope in a way that was captivating, and Josie was enchanted. She was staring at Penelope and couldn't look away. Josie had done it before, but Penelope had never noticed. This time, however, she did.

Josie wonders whether or not that was the first time Penelope had ever noticed her. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. She decided that it didn't really matter.

Walking through the stacks of books, Josie came to a table in the corner with a girl sitting at it with her back turned, facing the wall. Her raven hair gave her away as Josie started towards her.

When she stood behind her, she noticed that she was deep into a book and didn't notice her standing there. Penelope's feet were sitting in the chair in front of her, and her elbow was propped up on the table. Her eyes reached the end of a page, and she turned the book to the next one, without so much as a glance to the outside world. It was like she was in her own little bubble.

Josie walked around and stood in front of Penelope to get her attention. When that didn't work either, she cleared her throat to get Penelope to realize that she was there.

Penelope finally looked up from her book and smiled when she saw Josie. "Oh, hey, I didn't see you there. Do you want to sit?" Penelope gestured to a chair across the table from her.

Josie obliged and sat opposite from Penelope, leaning over the table as she said, "You weren't in class today, where were you?" She cringed at her accusatory tone and added, "I was worried."

Smiling as if nothing was wrong, Penelope replied, "Sorry, I didn't really feel like going to History today. I skipped and came here to read this," Penelope held up the book she was reading. Her finger was stuck in between two pages, marking her spot while she stopped to talk to Josie. Josie noticed that a bookmark was laying in front of Penelope on the table. Reading into the body language, Josie realized that by not using the bookmark, Penelope didn't intend to talk to her for very long.

But what Penelope didn't say when she answered was that she couldn't bear to sit behind Josie and pretend she did feel anything for her. She couldn't just sit there and ignore her feelings for Josie anymore.

A little hurt without knowing why, Josie says, "Oh. Okay. Um, well, I just wanted to know if you needed the notes." Josie reverted to the story she sold MG earlier as a way to deflect from her actual reasons for being there.

Penelope smiled again, "That would be great, thanks. You're a life saver." Her clipped response was nothing like the girl from the day before.

Josie's walls went back up to protect her heart as she sensed the Penelope from yesterday was gone, and she wasn't sure if she was ever coming back. "Sure. I'll come by later to drop them off, I don't have them with me right now."

Opening her book back up again, Penelope said, "Okay, cool. See you then." And then she began to read again, indicating that she was done talking.

Josie seemed to realize that this was the end of their conversation, so she stood, scrapping her chair as she did so. Turning away, she wondered if Penelope was telling her the whole truth. Yesterday, Penelope had been open and talkative and kind. Today, she had just brushed Josie off. She wondered what could have caused the change, she wondered if it was her fault, if she had done something wrong to make Penelope shut down.

Feeling sad and dejected, Josie forced herself to walk away before she could let herself look at Penelope again.


	9. Fliers

On her way back to her room, Josie passes Hope in the hallways, standing next to the school announcement billboard pinning something up. Josie stopped and went to see what it was. It was a flier for a Halloween Bash in two weeks.

As much as she tried not to let it, the flier made her think of Penelope. And how much she wished the Penelope from yesterday would be her escort to it.

Hope finished stapling the flier to the billboard and turned to face Josie, "Hey. Dr. Saltzman wants me to hang these up around school. He's throwing a Halloween Bash for the school."

Josie was confused. "Huh. I wonder why. It doesn't really seem like him, he hates the mixture of teenagers and parties."

Hope laughed and agreed, "Yeah, I thought the same thing. But, sometimes, its better not to question him. So, I grabbed a staple gun and started here, wanna help?"

Josie smiled at Hope, "Sure."

Hope handed Josie the stack of fliers but kept the staple gun for herself, and asked her, "Where should we go next?"

Grabbing the fliers, Josie answered, "We should probably put some up around the cafeteria, and the common room. There is usually the most foot traffic there, so they will be more likely to see them."

"Makes sense. Sorry, I don't know where people like to hang out." Hope laughed and Josie saw a little twinkle in her eye. "I'm only even doing this because Dr. Saltzman asked me to. And I'm not even entirely sure why he did that."

Josie laughed in response, "Maybe he thinks you should get out of your room more often." They were friends so Josie wasn't afraid to tease Hope. Josie considered Hope her closest friend, because they just fit well together. She trusted her and liked hanging out with her.

"Oh, he most definitely thinks I should get out of my room more often." Both girls laughed as they started towards the cafeteria to put up more fliers.

After finishing both the common room and the cafeteria, Josie says, "We should probably put some outside the classrooms, too."

Agreeing, the two walk that way and discuss their days. Hope tells Josie about a report she has to do for her Spells class about the common misconceptions with magical limitations and simple speaking mistakes. Josie tells Hope about a lab they were doing in Chemistry, also know as Potions class, experimenting with the different ingredients to learn how they work together.

The two also discussed the fact that midterms were in a few weeks, and how neither of them were ready yet.

After they had finished catching up about school, their conversation returned back to the subject of the Halloween Bash.

"So, since you're basically the spokes person for this dance, will you be attending?" Josie asks Hope as she hands her a flier to put up outside of an abandonded classroom.

"Dances aren't really my thing. What about you?" Hope knew that Dr. Saltzman would want her to go to the dance, but she didn't like small talk or dancing, and she always considered the music to be way too loud. Not to mention the fact that the punch was always spiked and the finger foods were never appetizing. Frankly, without a date or friends she wanted to hang out with, besides Josie, Hope couldn't find a single reason to go. She thought her time would be better spent studying for midterms or painting.

"Eh, I'm not opposed to going but I don't have a date." Josie couldn't help but think about Penelope again when she said this.

"First of all, we should demolish the patriarchical standard that you need a date to go to a dance. Second, is there anyone you want to go with?" Hope glanced over at Josie with suspicion and what looked like curiosity in her eyes and raised her all-knowing infamous eyebrow at the girl.

Smiling at Hope's first statement and the thought of Penelope, Josie replies, "Yeah. There's this one girl, but I don't think it will ever happen." Yesterday, Josie wouldn't have discounted the possibilty of it happening, but after today, it seemed highly unlikely.

Hope looks at Josie, "Anyone who wouldn't be into you is insane. Have you even asked her yet?"

Josie notices the way that Hope doesn't even falter at the mention of her liking a girl. "Uh, no. And I'm not going to." She shook her head and diverted her attention to the floor, "It's a lost cause."

Hope tried her best to be sincere and push her friend into going for it by giving her advice. "Josie, if you don't ask, you'll never know. You should go for it."

Wanting to change the subject away from her love life, Josie clears her throat and says, "We should probably put some up outside the bathrooms and in the dorm hallways."

Noticing the abrupt change in subject, Hope backtracks, "Not so fast, I'm serious. Just try. The worst thing that could happen is if she says no. Which, like I said, she would be crazy to do."

Josie smiles genuinely and says, "Thanks. I'll think about it. Now, back to the fliers."

Hope chuckled and said, "To the dorm hallways! Does this count as community service?" This was the only thing that Hope had done in a while that even came close to community service, and she wanted to know whether or not it would count towards her hours.

Shaking her head, Josie laughs, "I don't know. It doesn't really matter, though. Admit it, this has been fun to do together."

Putting her hands up in surrender, Hope says, "Alright, alright. Yes, it has been. Now, we must go put up more fliers! It is of utmost importance!" She said it with such conviction to make it seem like it was the most important thing in the world, and Josie couldn't help but laugh.

Very few people ever got to see this side of Hope, the side that wasn't guarded. The side that was the closest to who she really was, kind and funny. Josie felt honored every time Hope allowed her to see that part of her, because it meant that she trusted her.

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head at Hope's sarcasm, Josie just says, "Come on," before grabbing Hope's arm and walking away, dragging Hope with her.


	10. Naive Hope

After all of the fliers had been hung around the school, Josie and Hope parted ways and Josie went back to her room to try and study for the upcoming midterms and finish some homework.

Sitting at her desk, a pen in her right hand and her chin resting on top of her left hand, she stared out the window accomplishing nothing because she was deep in thought, still perplexed about the seemingly warngingless change in Penelope earlier. 

Suddenly, Josie remembered that she promised her the notes from History today. Using the notes as an excuse, Josie thought that she could see Penelope and ask her about earlier. Maybe, if she could talk herself into it, she would even take Hope's advice.

She grabbed her notes from class and headed to Penelope's room. After some time spent calming herself, Josie felt like she was ready to do what Hope suggested. She was still uneasy about what happened earler, mixed with her fear of rejection, but she decided to just go for it, like Hope had advised.

Knocking on Penelope's door, she rehearses what she's going to say to her in her mind, trying to string together the words that would convey how she really felt.

Penelope opens the door a crack and smiles politely at Josie. Josie holds out her notebook and says, "These are the notes from earlier, I hope they help."

Penelope took the notebook out of Josie's outstretched hand and said, "I'm sure they will. Thanks again."

Josie stood there for a second waiting for Penelope to let her in. But Penelope didn't move. She didn't invite Josie in or indicate in any way that she could come in, unlike the past two times Josie showed up at her door.

Frowning slightly, Josie thinks that this probably isn't the best time to ask Penelope to the dance. She didn't seem like she was in the right headspace. But, remembering Hope's words of wisdom and knowing that the timing is never perfect, she presses through her anxiety, "Look, so, I don't know if you've noticed the fliers around school but there's a Halloween Bash in two weeks and I was wondering if you wanted to go. With me." Josie's eyes flicked to the floor and back up to Penelope as she put it all together, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me."

Penelope opens her mouth to respond but Josie isn't finished yet. "I know we don't really know each other that well yet," Josie says, despite the fact that she feels like she knows Penelope intimately just from the look around her room. Josie continues, "But, I like you. And I want to go to the dance with you." She was putting her heart out on the line, setting it on a platter and handing it to Penelope. But she knew that Penelope was worth the risk.

Penelope looks at Josie and sees nothing but naive hope on her face, displayed with her wide doe eyes and wishful, optimistic smile. Wishing she could say yes, she responds, "Oh. Um, I'm sorry. But, I don't really think that would be best. I'm sorry." 

Josie's face immediately collapses. The naive hope replaced with a hardened face as emotions flash across her face in succession. Confusion, embarrassment, sadness.

The world around her stops spinning. The noise from the hallway dims. The light seems to flicker for a brief second. Josie was completely in her own world at the second, numb to everything around her and trying her best not to feel the emotions that accompanied this. _Little boxes_ , Josie tried to focus on stuffing the emotions away, determined to never open Pandora's Box, _little boxes_. But little boxes couldn't contain this.

Failing at compartmentalizing, Josie tries again, attempting to regain her footing, but only stumbling over her words, "But, yesterday- I thought-"

Penelope cuts her off, "I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on, so I'm sorry if I did. Yesterday was a mistake."

Penelope's heart was hurting but she couldn't say yes. Josie was already way too important to her, and she wanted to keep her at arms length. Penelope was a lone wolf who didn't let anyone in. Yesterday was a mistake and she felt bad for leading Josie on, but as much as she wished she and Josie really could be together, she knew it would never work out.

Josie's eyes fill with tears but she was determined not to let Penelope see her cry again, so she blinks them away and musters a smile, but it just comes out sad, "Oh. Yeah, no, I'm sorry, you're right. I'm just going to go." Her voice cracks on the last word.

Turning on her heel she hears Penelope say, "I'm sorry," one last time before she shuts her door. If Josie hadn't been on the verge of tears and in the flight mode of her fight-or-flight response, maybe she would have heard Penelope's voice rise as she said this. Maybe she would have noticed that Penelope was on the verge of tears, too. Maybe she would have heard her voice crack. But, she didn't. Maybe it would have made all the difference, maybe nothing would have changed. Maybe this was a fixed point. If she had heard this, maybe her heart wouldn't have smashed into a thousand pieces. But, Josie didn't hear this.

Josie runs back to her room, unable to stop from crying anymore. Thankfully, when she opens her door, Lizzie isn't there to ask her questions when she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. So, she flops down onto her bed, buries her face in her pillow and lets herself cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Concerns?


	11. Picking Up The Pieces

After staining her pillow with tears, Josie sits up, takes a shaky breath, wipes her eyes, and calls Hope.

When Hope answers on the second ring, she says, "Hey, Josie, what's up?"

When Josie didn't respond immediately, Hope became concerned, and asked, "Are you okay?"

Simply hearing her voice and those words makes Josie start crying again. Attempting to calm herself, she asks, "Will you come over?"

Before Hope even hears the question she's already out the door. She says, "On my way," and hangs up.

Less than two minutes later, Hope knocks on Josie's door. Before Josie can even fully open it, Hope is inside, wrapping Josie up into a hug.

Josie shuts the door and buries her face in Hope's shoulder, hugging her back. 

Pulling back to look at her, but leaving her hands on her shoulders, Hope asks, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Josie takes a deep breath before she responds, "Well, I took your advice and asked. She said no." Another tear escaped down Josie's cheek.

Hope's eyes glowed yellow with anger and she says, "Who is it? How could she do that to you? As if she would ever find anyone better than you."

Seeing her eyes, Josie says, "Hope, it's okay. I'm okay. It doesn't matter who it is, she said no. It's not going to happen."

Hope pulled Josie back into a hug and held her tight, trying to put the pieces of her broken heart back together. Josie pulled back and went to sit on the edge of her bed, and Hope followed.

Josie started speaking after Hope sat down, "You know, before I asked, I rehearsed what I was going to say. I thought about the outcomes. And when I thought about her saying no, it didn't really seem like it would hurt this much. But it does." A single tear streaked its way down her cheek.

Hope's eyes glowed yellow again and she said, "Who is she? I just want to talk to her." But Hope knew she didn't just want to talk. She wanted to yell. She wanted to confront this girl and make her realize what she lost out on. She wanted to make her realize how badly she had hurt this fantastic person. And then she wanted to make her regret it.

And Josie knew this as well, so she repeated what she said earlier, "It doesn't matter who she is. It's not going to happen."

Hope was practically fuming, furious that someone hurt her best friend like this. Whoever it was, they didn't deserve Josie, and Hope wanted to make sure both Josie and the girl knew that. Hope wanted to show this girl that she didn't get to have this kind of power over Josie, that she didn't get to hurt her like this without repercussions.

"Either way, she doesn't get the right to hurt you like this."

Josie didn't have a response to that because she had given Penelope her heart, and all she had to do was stomp on it. Josie gave Penelope the means to hurt her, and she did. She couldn't hold that against her. Josie only blamed herself.

Seeing Josie wasn't going to respond, Hope tried a different route, "Okay, if you're not going to tell me so we can talk about it, then we're going to try something else. Put on workout clothes, you can take it out on a punching bag.

Warily, Josie responded, "Hope, I appreciate the effort but I don't really think that's going to help. Besides, I don't want to." Her voice sounded tired, like the day had drained her of all of her energy. And it had.

Hope wasn't going to give up that easily, "Josie, do you trust me? It works, I promise. Just give it a shot, if you hate it I will personally escort you back to your room, let you pick a movie to watch and bring you ice cream."

Seeing no downside to this, Josie relented, "Fine. But either way, I want ice cream after."

"That's fair. Okay, come on." While Hope went to change into workout clothes, she left Josie to do the same, promising to be back in five minutes to get her.

For the first two minutes of her allotted changing time, Josie just sat on her bed in a daze and stared at the floor. But she forced herself to snap out of it, get up, and change. She didn't want to let Hope down. After all, she was trying her best to help Josie feel better, and the least Josie could do was try.

As promised, Hope returned in five minutes to find Josie standing outside her door in workout clothes. Walking side by side in silence, the two went to the gym.

Once there, Hope showed Josie the basic punches. The hook, jab and cross.

"The hook is one of the most powerful punches, if used correctly. It approaches from the side and most of the power behind it comes from your legs and torso," Hope explains, and then demonstrates one.

"The jab is a quick and basic punch, usually used to set up other shots," Hope says before showing Josie an example of one.

"The cross is thrown by your rear hand, which moves across your body to make contact," Hope finishes, ignoring the overwhelmed and confused look on Josie's face before demonstrating again.

Hope faces Josie, "Okay, your turn." Hope pats the punching bag in front of her and steps back to indicate that Josie should try now.

Josie stands in front of the bag overcome with uncertainty. Turning back to Hope she says, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea. We should go."

Before Josie can take off her hand wraps, Hope stops her, "Just try it once, please. Try out whichever punch you thought looked easiest and think about the pain you felt earlier. Use that pain to fuel your punch."

Sighing, Josie turned back to the bag. She got into the basic stance Hope had showed her and she jabbed. The punching bag barely moved, but Josie tried again.

Moving into a hook and jab sequence, Josie starts to feel better. Adding in a cross, she realizes that Hope was right. This does work.

She continued to punch without minding that Hope was watching, and she only stopped when her hands were hurting and she was sweating.

Behind her, Hope clapped, "Nice job. Now, how do you feel?"

Without turning to look at her she says, "Better." She tried to steady her breathing, "Thank you."

"No problem. Now, I believe that there was a promise of a movie and ice cream, if I remember correctly."

Turning around, Josie smiled, "I do recall something along those lines being said earlier. But, can I shower first?"

"Sure. I can grab the ice cream while you do that." Hope took off her hand wraps and helped Josie take off hers.

Josie responds, "Sounds great," before going back to her room to grab her shower caddy.

When she returns from her shower, she finds Hope waiting outside her room with two pints of ice cream and two spoons. Josie smiles at the fact that Hope got her two favorites, chocolate chip and vanilla.

Letting them both in, Josie puts her shower caddy next to the closet and grabs her laptop to pick a movie. 

Josie chooses a sci-fi mystery thriller, and they both settle onto Josie's bed, where Josie props the laptop between them. They watch the movie and eat their ice cream, occasionally switching the pints back and forth to share. For the short period of the movie, Josie let's herself forget about the rest of the day, and she feels better. But she knew that as soon as the end credits started rolling, she would be forced to open Pandora's box and face her emotions again.


	12. The Aftermath

Josie woke the next morning to memories of the previous night. She thought about how lucky she was to have Hope. And she thought about how Hope had made her feel so much better. But at the same time, she still felt the pang of hurt from Penelope's rejection. She wondered how long she would feel it. It didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon.

Sighing as she stands, she excruciatingly begins another day. She gets dressed, grabs her stuff and heads to the bathroom.

Before opening the door, she silently wished that Penelope wouldn't be there. Josie pretty much planned to never see her or speak to her ever again.

So, when she pushed open the door and heard nothing, she smiled to herself. Now she just needed to avoid her for the rest of her life. Sounds easy enough, right?

Wrong. History of Magic class rolled around and Penelope actually decided to show up today. Today of all days.

And, then, Penelope had the nerve to approach her. Josie tried her best to ignore her but Penelope said, "Hey, JoJo," and Josie's resolve started to crumble.

Hearing Penelope's nickname for her brought up a wave of sadness. And anger. Penelope didn't get to call her that anymore.

Josie didn't even look up at her, but Penelope continued, "So, um, here are your notes back. They were very helpful. You have proven yourself to be an academic yet again. Also, you have amazing handwriting." 

_Of course, the notes_ , Josie thought to herself, _there isn't any other reason Penelope would want to talk to me_. They weren't friends, and it didn't seem like they would ever be any more than they were right now. Penelope had made that crystal clear.

As Penelope set the notes down on her desk, her hand grazed Josie's arm, and Josie flinched at her touch. She tensed up and Penelope could see it written across her face.

Penelope stands there for another second before saying, "Well, uh, thanks again for the notes," before turning away and retreating to her regular seat.

The class passed by excruciatingly slowly, as Josie could feel Penelope's eyes on her back the entire time.

As soon as the bell rang, Josie grabbed her stuff and rushed out before Penelope could stop her, not that she was going to anyways.

The next few days went about the same, with Josie desperately trying to avoid Penelope. 

Penelope was somehow always where she was, just out of the corner of her eye. The first few times she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her, but then she started looking over her shoulder to see Penelope leaning up against a wall with her arms crossed across her chest, staring directly at Josie.

Whenever Josie listened to music, she couldn't bring herself to listen to Your Soul, always skipping it when it came up in her queue, even though it was one of her favorite songs.

Every night for a week, Josie would go back to the punching bag and punch until her knuckles had turned red, trying to forget about Penelope's rejection.

Sometimes, she would hang out with Hope during the evenings, studying or watching a movie or talking about their days. Sometimes, she would just lay on her bed alone and stare at the ceiling.

But most of her free time was taken up with helping Lizzie get ready for the Halloween Bash. Every time Lizzie brought it up, her skin crawled. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Lizzie, it just reminded her of Penelope. And her rejection.

It seemed to be the only thing in Josie's mind. Penelope's rejection plagued her every waking thought, and some of her dreams, too. As much as Josie wanted to get over it and move on, Penelope kept popping up around her, which made it impossible not to think about her.

Eventually Lizzie asked the question Josie knew she had been dying to ask. "So, are you going with anyone to the dance?"

Josie could see that Lizzie was practically bouncing with excitement, but Josie had to let her down. She told her that she wasn't and watched as the excitement left Lizzie like air going out of a balloon.

After that, Lizzie asked, "But you are still going to the dance, right? I mean, you don't need a date."

"I'll think about it. Are you going with anyone? If not, you should ask MG. He would love to go with you, even if it is just as friends."

"So far, no one's asked me. But, I don't know about that."

"Seriously, Liz, give him a chance." 

If Josie couldn't be happy, she wanted someone else to be. It was what she did, she made sure everyone else was happy before she was. So when the words came out of her mouth, Josie didn't question them. And she knew that MG was hardcore crushing on Lizzie and that he would make sure Lizzie had a good night. _Two birds, one stone_ , Josie thought.

"Okay, I'll ask him tomorrow."

Josie sighed and forced a fake smile, saying, "Great."

And Josie watched the next day as Lizzie asked him to go together as friends and MG freaked out, but tried to play it cool. She also watched him fail at playing it cool.

She was happy for them, but that happiness was accompanied by sadness. Sadness from the fact that someone wasn't as happy when Josie asked them to the dance as MG was when Lizzie asked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love hearing from you guys, so let me know what you think!


	13. Unexpected

Late one night after completing her newly adopted routine, Josie was laying in bed trying to fall asleep when she realized that sleep was not going to come.

She threw back the sheets, sat up in bed, grabbed a book and turned on her bedside lamp, hoping it wouldn't wake Lizzie.

Before starting to read, she looked at the clock beside her. It read, "2:42 AM." Josie sighed in frustration, wishing she could fall asleep so she could forget about everything for a little while, except for the fact that even in her dreams, Penelope haunted her. Josie rubs her tired eyes and opens her book, turning to the page she last left off on.

Some time and a couple chapters later, she hears a knock on the door. Confused, she looks at the clock again. This time, it reads, "3:12 AM." Using a bookmark to save her place, Josie gets up to see if she really did hear a knock or if it was just her imagination. Her mind was prone to playing tricks on her recently.

Josie opens the door to find a dark figure standing in front of her. Squinting to see who it was, she sees a black tank top, flannel pajama pants and a necklace glinting in the light from the lamp behind her. It illuminated the outline of a small figure before her.

Penelope. Josie's breath stops short as she starts to panic. What was she doing here at this hour? What was she doing here at all?

Neither girl knew where to go from here but Penelope breaks the silence, her voice rising a little at the end syllable, "Hey, JoJo."

Josie only stares at Penelope in response. She was tired and she didn't want to deal with this right now. She didn't want to deal with it ever.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I handled things the wrong way and it's my fault you're upset." Penelope had three little words sitting on the tip of her tongue. So simple to say yet so difficult to force yourself to. The entire balance of their relationship was in limbo, and maybe this would help. The only reason Penelope was here was because she couldn't bear to go through another day watching Josie hurt. She needed to say those three little words and hope that it could fix their derailed relationship. Maybe it was too much to ask for, but for the first time in a long time, Penelope was letting herself have hope that everything could work out in her favor, that she didn't have to pick and choose.

Penelope didn't stop to breathe as she said her next words, "Its just that, I like you. And that scared me. When you came into my room the day before, I dropped my guard and I let my walls down. And that scared me. I don't do that for anyone, but you made it so easy. I was vulnerable and that scared me. So, the next day, when you tried to talk to me again, I brushed you off because I knew that if I let my walls down again, I could get hurt. Then, later, when you asked me to the dance, I wanted to say yes, I really did. But I couldn't. Because I was afraid. And for that I'm sorry." By the end, Penelope was wringing her hands and staring at Josie with the same exact naive hope Josie had worn, but a hint of shame or embarrassment was there too.

Penelope was letting her walls down. She was letting down her defenses even thought she knew she could get hurt. She knew the risk, but she also knew the reward. Josie was worth it.

Josie's own defenses were crumbling. Into the floor, she mumbled, "Oh. Its okay, I understand." She said that because that's what she always says. It's programmed into her to make sure everyone else feels good about themselves before she does.

But Penelope didn't stop to call her out on it this time, she was too preoccupied with her pounding heart and aching need to get this off of her chest, "Its just, I can't stop thinking about you. I want to be near you. I need to be near you. And I can't take it anymore. I'm drawn to you like a magnet, and its killing me that you have this kind of hold on me."

Josie didn't realize until this moment that her feelings for Penelope were reciprocated exactly. They were both drawn to each other. They both craved each other.

Unable to look away from Penelope's eyes, Josie responds in a small voice, "I feel the same way."

Penelope could barely contain herself. She looked at Josie, who's face was a mixture of emotions. She looked like she was trying to decide whether she should give Penelope a second chance or not. Her lips had a bit of a pout look to them and it was absolutely adorable. Her hair was naturally wavy and it was gorgeous after it had been rumpled from a pillow. 

Penelope responded with an equally small voice, "Will you go to the dance with me?"

Shocked but happy, Josie's face goes slack for a moment before she smiles and answers, "Yes, Penelope Park, I will go to the dance with you.

The air around them seems to stop and electrify as Penelope hears these words and sees Josie smile. That smile could end a one hundred year long waging war. That smile could make anyone smile, but not in a Pavlov reaction way, in her own way.

Penelope mutters, "Oh, dammit, Saltzman, you've got a hold on me."

Suddenly, Penelope's lips made contact with Josie's. Tentative at first and then fiercer, more aggressive. She kissed Josie like she was the oxygen she needed to breathe to stay alive.

Josie immediately reciprocates it as she melts into Penelope, realizing how much she had been yearning for this. She went purely on instinct, completely on autopilot and not at all in control of her movements.

Josie's whole body was on fire, she could feel every nerve ending in her entire body and she never wanted it to end. It made her feel alive.

Penelope felt whole again, she felt at peace again. It was like she had been walking across hot coals leading up to this moment, but now she was stepping off into the cool grass.

Josie cups Penelope's face with one hand, while putting the other in Penelope's hair. Penelope grabs Josie's waist and pulls her closer, their lips never leaving each other's.

Breathless, the two break apart. Penelope looks at Josie, and Josie looks at Penelope, something unreadable dancing in their eyes.

In the background, Josie hears Lizzie stir.

Cursing the fact that Josie shares a room, she says between breaths, "You should go. I haven't told Lizzie about you yet." For the time being, Penelope was Josie's secret. And she kind of liked it that way. The mystery, the intrigue. But she knew that she had to tell people eventually, these late night rendezvous' couldn't last forever. But maybe she was okay with that.

"Until next time, in that case." This time, it was Josie who was left wanting more. 

Penelope sighs longingly and pulls Josie in for another kiss before breaking apart, turning towards her room and strutting away, throwing, "To be continued, JoJo," over her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This slow burn just caught ablaze. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


	14. Next Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't posted for the past couple days like I usually do but I had to rewrite this chapter and tweak it to get it to be the way I wanted it to be, so I hope you enjoy

The next day, after a sleepless night of tossing and turning with the lingering feeling of Penelope's lips on her own, Josie sat through every class fidgeting and unable to pay attention. It was like the previous night had turned her into a live wire, constantly filled with sparks that she could feel all the way in her fingertips. During History of Magic, Josie stole looks over her shoulder at Penelope every chance she got, and every time she did, she saw Penelope looking back at her too.

Finally, classes ended and Josie rushed to Penelope's door. She knocked furiously and started breathing heavily. Penelope opened the door and Josie barged in. 

Penelope closed the door behind her and turned to see Josie pacing. Her brow furrowed, Penelope approached Josie only to have Josie immediately pull her into a kiss. Penelope was like a drug and Josie had been in withdrawal.

Breaking away, Josie apologizes, "I'm sorry. Its just that, I've been wanting to do that again since the second you left last night."

Penelope said, "Don't apologize, I have been too, just come here," before grabbing Josie again and pulling her towards her into another kiss.

This time it was Penelope who pulled away, "As much as I enjoy this activity, we should talk."

Ready to be rejected again, Josie didn't move to the chair next to Penelope.

Sensing her worries, Penelope tries to quell them, "Don't worry. I'm not pushing you away again, I just think we need to talk about what this is."

Wearily, Josie sat down in the chair. She didn't want to define this yet. She just wanted it to be. Josie felt like defining it gave it restrictions and limitations and expectations, when she really just wanted see where things would lead. "Okay. Um, well what do you want this to be?"

Penelope had hoped that she had already made that clear, "I want to be with you."

Smiling in relief, Josie replied, "I want to be with you too." Maybe defining things wouldn't be so bad if they were both on the same page. Pausing before scooting closer to Penelope she said, "Now that that's settled, let's do this again," and cupped Penelope's face in her hands and kissed her softly.

Penelope laughed and the sound made Josie smile at her. "What's funny?"

"It's just that, I still have some stuff I want to say. Don't worry, it's all good." She had been working up to this and now that the time was finally here, she had to say what had been running through her mind in a neverending marathon.

"Okay, please go on then." Josie sat back, folded her hands in her lap and waited for Penelope to begin.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for giving me a second chance. I know I don't deserve it." She looked at the floor and paused before saying, "Do you remember the day a little while ago when you came into the bathroom while I was showering and we both started singing along to a song, Your Soul?"

Josie nods, allowing that memory to rise. She would never forget it.

"Well, the song makes me think of you. You already know how the song goes but there's a part that says, 'Ten thousand trees lie in wait for the fall, it's far to easy to ignore the call.' I had been ignoring my feelings for you, but the thing that's different from the song is that it wasn't easy." Penelope had grown accustomed to denying even having emotions, accepting that she was the evil, heartless witch that everyone saw her as, but her feelings for Josie couldn't be ignored. Every time she tried, they just came back and hit her harder than they had before. 

Penelope continued, hoping that if she wore her heart on her sleeve, then Josie wouldn't regret giving her a second chance, "The next part says, 'Still gripped with fear before your eyes.' That was me, standing in front of you last night, terrified. Next it says, 'Let me down for a second time, a love you can't replace.' I couldn't bear to let you down again. I knew that you were different, special. And I knew that you were one of a kind. I remember the look on your face when I let you down the first time, and it still stings when I think about it, the fact that I hurt you."

Pausing to look into Josie's eyes, Penelope added, "Anyways, the part that really stands out to me is when it says, 'Give me a chance for a second time.' You gave me a second chance and I don't know how I could ever thank you for that. I want to make you happy, though, and I will do my best to." She hoped that she could will Josie into believing this with her eyes. 

Penelope sighed and chuckled lightly, "I've had Your Soul on repeat since the day you came to me after school and asked me to the dance, trying to work up the courage to do what I did last night." By the time Penelope had finally confessed her feelings to Josie, Your Soul had become a certain type of self inflicted torture. She forced herself to listen to it on repeat because that was the only song she could bear to hear. Every single time she listened to music, it was on repeat so Penelope could force herself to think about Josie. Because if she did, she knew that maybe one day she could finally tell Josie how she really felt. And it had worked.

Taking a breath, Penelope waits for Josie to respond. When she does, she doesn't expect the answer, "I haven't been able to listen to that song since you pushed me away because it reminded me of you too much."

A tear drops onto Penelope's cheek and her voice breaks, "I'm so sorry."

Wiping the tear away, Josie looked into her eyes and said, "You didn't let me finish. You hurt me, but I will always give you a second chance. I love that song, and I love it even more because it's tied to you now."

"So, is it, like, our song now?" Penelope smiled as she realized that they were becoming a classic movie cliche couple. She didn't mind.

"I think that this does now make it our song." Josie smirked at Penelope. They had a song. And that made Josie immensely happy. She didn't really know why, just that it was theirs, and that was all that really mattered. 

It could have been any song. It could have been a song about heartbreak or a song about a first love or a song about missing your youth or a song about friendship. It was just by sheer chance that Josie had walked in during Your Soul and that Penelope had decided to play it that morning. It seemed as though the universe wanted this for them. And who were they to deny the universe?

Grabbing her phone and hooking it up to her speaker, Penelope asks, "Should we play it now?"

Pressing play for her, Josie responds, "It only seems appropriate."

The girls hold hands as they both breathe in the music. Penelope listens to the first few beats in the song before she puts her hands on Josie's waist and draws her closer, kissing her lightly on her lips.

When the part Penelope was talking about earlier comes on, Josie smiles and remembers every word that came out of her mouth.

She would never listen to Your Soul the same way again, but Josie didn't mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what are you guys thinking? Tell me your thoughts in the comments, I love to hear what you guys think about this fic so far


	15. 21st Century

After Your Soul finishes playing, Josie asks Penelope what other songs she likes. Music had a way of ripping away layers and showing someone's soul. It made them vulnerable and was one of the best ways to get to know someone and find out how they tick. Josie knew from experience that if someone told you about a song they liked, you should listen to it because it shows you something about them that they can't put into words.

"Right now I really like 'Paris' by Magic Man, 'Old House' by Armors, and 'The Great Divide' by The Mowgli's." Smirking with a raised eyebrow she added, "Fun fact, they all make me think of you, too."

Bashfully smiling while a blush warmed her cheeks, Josie replied, "I love 'Paris' and 'The Great Divide', but I don't think I've ever heard 'Old House.' You should play it for me"

Happy to oblige, Penelope scrolls through her playlist and selects it.

_The old house_  
_Is burning down slowly_  
_With you here_  
_I don't feel so lonely_

As the first few lyrics blare, Josie immediately knows why Penelope thinks of her when she listens to this. Penelope had said how Josie made her feel safe, and how she wanted to let her in. Josie beams as she connects the dots and pieces the puzzle together, she made Penelope feel less alone in the world.

Penelope's music taste isn't what Josie had expected. Sure, they had Your Soul in common, but Josie thought that it had just been one commonality. She didn't exactly know what she had expected, but she knew it wasn't this. Maybe she thought it would reflect the persona she outwardly showed. The evil, heartless witch one. Maybe a few songs about burning bridges or cutting ties, not songs about lost love. Her music taste reflected the persona no one saw. No one but her. The kind, loving, caring one. The soft side. Josie should know by now that there's more to Penelope than meets the eye. Most people just didn't bother to look for it.

When the song ended, Josie said, "That was really good, I can see why you like it. Right now I really like 'Time Machine' by COIN, 'My Type' by Saint Motel, and 'Spirits' by The Strumbellas." It was only fair that she let Penelope see how she ticked, too.

Penelope cleared her thoat, "So, apparently we both like deep songs that highlight our broken hearts."

The concerned look on her face made Josie laugh, which made Penelope laugh. Their light laughter filled the room like a song of their own.

After both giggling for a minute, Penelope stopped and said, "We should share our playlists with each other."

Josie nodded in agreement and pulled out her phone, "Wait, I just realized, I don't even have your number. We're basically dating and I don't even have your number."

Josie froze. Did she really just say that they were basically dating? This wasn't like her, none of it was. She didn't do this, she wasn't forward or confident, she wasn't flirty. And yet, here she was, doing it all effortlessly, without a single thought before the words came out of her mouth. It was like she didn't have control of herself in the presence of Penelope.

But Penelope didn't even register what she had called them, or if she did, she didn't say anything. Maybe it was because she didn't want to embarrass Josie, but maybe it was because that's what she thought too.

"This is what some people would call, the olden days," Penelope added air quotes for emphasis. "Here, give me your phone, its time to emerge into the 21st century," she handed Josie her phone.

After typing both their numbers into each others phone's and handing them back, Penelope's phone buzzes with a text alert.

Glancing suspiciously at Josie as she unlocks her phone, Penelope notices Josie trying to be conspicuous. She also notices her failing. She makes a mental note to never include Josie in a heist.

Opening her messages, there's one at the top from _JoJo :)_ that reads: "You once said that you were always ready to pose, and I need a picture for your contact."

The first thing Penelope notices is that when Josie created her contact, she used the nickname Penelope had given her. The second thing she notices is the reference to the first time they spoke. Apparently, it was as memorable for Josie as it was to her.

Before Penelope can fully process what is going to happen, Josie has already snapped five photos. Jerking her head up, Penelope grabs for her phone, "JoJo, I wasn't ready!"

Doubling over in laughter, Josie manages, "But I thought you were always ready."

Penelope once again unsuccessfully reaches for Josie's phone, "I was flirting with you! You know I was exaggerating for dramatic effect." Penelope always did have a flair for the dramatic.

Josie sits upright and opens her gallery to show Penelope the pictures, none of which fully show Penelope's face because she was bent over her phone. Her hair hung down covering half of her face like a curtain drawn on a theatre performance. Almost as if her hair was a way for her to keep herself guarded, only showing half of who she really was.

"You look great in every one, I think you are always ready." Muttering something under her breath, Josie adds in disbelief, "How?"

"You just can't see my flaws because you're hardcore crushing. Don't worry, you don't have any flaws for me to see." She winks at her.

"Exaggerating once again, Penelope Park? I thought we just talked about this. Wait, are you flirting again? I think I'm beginning to pick up on your signals."

Josie's brow was furrowed and Penelope thought it was adorable.

"I seriously hope you're staring to get my signals." A devious smile spread across Penelope's face before she tilted Josie's head towards her's and kissed her. "Did you pick up on that one?"

"I think so, but you may need to do it again just so I can confirm my suspicions." With a smirk, Josie backed up a little, daring Penelope to come closer.

Penelope didn't mind moving to Josie, and she did just that before she put her hand on the back of Josie's neck and pulled her lips to her own.

Pulling away and standing, Josie smirked, "I think I got it that time."

Penelope flopped back on her bed and grabbed her phone. Josie's phone buzzed as soon as Penelope had locked her own again.

A text from _Pen_ was waiting for Josie. It said, "It's your turn next, JoJo."

Josie noticed what Penelope had too, that she had entered in the nickname Josie bestowed upon her for her contact. She also realized that she was about to become karma's next victim.

When she opened it and realized that it was Penelope's turn to get the drop on her, she quickly grabbed a pillow and held it in front of her face.

Penelope appeared in front of her, snatched the pillow away and snapped a photo, and stated, "Perfect, as always."

Josie blushed as she hoped to change the subject, "We should talk about the dance. It's in a few days."

"Okay, subtle subject change there, JoJo," Penelope called her out on it, "However, you seem to forget that by talking about the dance, we will have to talk about our outfits, which will bring us right back to where we started, with me saying you're going to look gorgeous."

Josie wasn't used to being called gorgeous, so she couldn't retaliate to that statement. How did Penelope always steal her ability to speak? She was quite the thief.

"Anyways, what are you going to wear? I was thinking a black suit, maybe with a cape. After all, it's my signature look." She raised one shoulder in a shrug-like gesture as if to say, "Eh, what can I do?"

Clearing her throat, Josie replied, "Sounds good. I could wear a black dress to compliment you."

Grabbing Josie's hand, Penelope pushed back, "I'm supposed to compliment you. Besides, black compliments everything. Why do you think guys always wear black suits to everything? Because they don't know how to dress themselves but they know it works. You should wear whatever you want, whatever you feel confident and comfortable in. Forewarning, there will be dancing at this dance."

Snickering, Josie stated, "I figured as much. Only you, Penelope Park, could get me to dance." She paused, thinking, "Okay then, in that case, I'll find something and get back to you."

"Fantastic! I want pictures of your final choice, though."

"I can do that. It seems I have my work cut out for me, so I should get started."

"There's still some other stuff we should discuss. Like, do you want me to pick you up? What time?"

"My room is right down the hall, it's not exactly picking me up," Josie laughed.

Penelope's face remained serious, "JoJo, I want to do this right."

The unspoken words seemed to hang in front of them. Penelope wanted to make up for letting Josie down. And the only way she knew how to do that was to give Josie an amazing night, filled with all of the chivalrous deeds Penelope could possibly pull off to show that she wouldn't do it again.

She sighed, "In that case then, I'll see you Friday at seven outside my door."

Smiling, Penelope replied, "I'll be there. Now, if I remember correctly, you have a dress to pick out?"

"Ah, yes, I do."

Before she left, though, Josie added, "Send me your playlist."

Penelope tapped a few buttons on her phone and looked up at the other girl, "Done. Send me yours too."

Josie did the same and walked to the door, turned around and said, "Can I see you again before Friday?" The naive hope seemed to creep its way back onto Josie's face without her consent.

The same happened for Penelope, "I was going to ask you the same thing. The answer is yes, by the way."

Josie smiled, took one last look at the girl, grabbed the door handle and left, already anxiously awaiting their next meeting.


	16. The Dress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the comments and kudos, they are very much appreciated. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

As soon as Josie got back to her room, she hooked her phone up to the speaker and started playing Penelope's playlist. 

While she listened, Josie started to go through her entire closet looking for the perfect dress.

If Penelope wanted this night to be perfect, then Josie did too. The first thing she had to accomplish was picking out her dress. It was a daunting task.

Lizzie found the scene an hour later, with half of their closet on the floor and a foreign song blaring out of the speaker. However, she couldn't see Josie.

Hearing a rustle, she walked around her bed to find her sister laying in a pile of clothes on the floor.

Lizzie stood over her, "Josie, did the closet explode? Were you a victim?"

When Josie didn't meet her eyes, she tried again, without the snark this time, "Jo, you okay?"

Josie groaned and replied, "No. I have nothing to wear."

"Wear? To what?" Lizzie's face lit up as she put the pieces together, "Wait! Are you going to the dance? And if you need something to wear that means that you have a date!"

Josie's face turned red, "Yes. I have a date. I also have nothing to wear."

Lizzie beamed, "This is my area of expertise. I can help. But first, I need to know about my sister's date. You know, to help you pick an outfit."

"I'm 95 percent sure that who I'm going with has nothing to do with you being able to help me find a dress or not."

"Fine. Tell me nothing, but, be forewarned, I will find out," Lizzie threatened.

"Yes, of course you will, Lizzie. Everyone will on Friday, at the dance. Now, just please help me find something to wear."

Groaning, Lizzie waded through the onslaught of rejected outfits to their shared closet. The song in the background changed to another one she was unfamiliar with. Was this even her sister's music?

Josie stared at the ceiling, defeated, thinking it was all a lost cause. A minute later, Lizzie emerges with a dress draped over her arm.

"Never fear, I'm here." Lizzie stepped over the clothes on the floor and stood over Josie again, "Get up, Jo, we've got a dress to find."

Lizzie offered a hand and Josie begrudgingly took it. The blonde helped Josie up and laid the dress on her bed.

"Okay, so this is option one. It's a very pale shade of pink with semi-sweetheart neckline, pefect to show off necklaces. There is nothing on your shoulders, which allows movement. I think it would suit you."

Josie liked it but wasn't entirely convinced yet, "Okay. Is there an option two?" Lizzie placed a hand on her chin and took a second to mentally go through their closet.

Lizzie spun on her heel and disappeared again. Reappearing a minute later, she laid the next dress beside the first one.

"Option two. A black dress with gray flowers at the bottom. It has a straight across neckline, and a clinched waist line that is also gray. Once again, nothing on the shoulders so it's good for movement, and the low neckline allows for visible necklaces. Either one would be perfect." She sounded like her personal shopper, maybe a store attendee trying to sell her a dress. Either way, Lizzie did know best in this situation, and Josie appreciated the help.

Running her hand along the edge of the black dress, Josie muttered to herself, "She did say that black compliments everything."

Lizzie's face lit up and Josie realized that she had heard what she had meant for only herself, "She! So, that elimates half the student body. I'm one step closer to finding out who your date is." She drummed her fingers together in a maniacal manner.

Josie groaned, "Lizzie, please just leave it alone. I'll tell you, okay? Just, not right now. I still need some time to wrap my own head around it before anyone starts pelting me with questions."

Lizzie flopped on the bed and groaned in frustration.

Now it was Josie's turn to stand over her sister, "Look, Liz, this is uncharted territory. I will tell you, I just need a little bit more time."

"I know, I know, Jo. Its just, we're sisters. And sisters are supposed to tell each other stuff. It just kinda feels like you're keeping me at arms length. I mean, I tell you about all of my conquests."

"Yeah, but all of your conquests are guys, its different for me." Josie sat down on the bed next to Lizzie and sighed.

Lizzie sat up and looked Josie in the eye, "But I already told you that it doesn't matter who you date, I just want to know what's going on in your life. Seriously, Jo, how many times am I going to have to say that?"

"I know. I know it doesn't matter to you, but it matters to me. I promise I will tell you when I'm ready."

Lizzie flopped back onto the bed, clearly still upset and unconsoled by her sister's words, "Fine, Jo."

Josie cleared her throat and tried to lighten the mood, "Thanks for helping me find a dress, Liz, I really appreciate it."

Half-heartedly, she replied, "Have you chosen between the two options yet?"

"Um, I think I'm gonna go with the black one." Josie decided to go with that one because she knew she couldn't go wrong with black, as per Penelope had said earlier.

"Good choice. I'm sure your date, whoever she is, will like it." Her tone was icy, yet there was a hint of something genuine there, too.

Sensing an end to the conversation, Josie didn't bother to respond in fear of returning to the topic of who her date was. She just started to pick up the heaps of clothes scattered across the floor and return them back to the closet, satisfied that she had accomplished her first task to make Friday perfect.

Accompanied by an upbeat song from Penelope's playlist, Josie decided to try on the dress. She slowly got undressed and slipped the dress on. She fiddled with the zipper for a second before hearing it zip up.

She walked to the full length mirror standing near their closet and looked at how it fit. It fit perfectly, hugging her in all the right spots. She smiled a little and twirled to see the back. It was a modest dress, showing just a little bit of her upper torso due to the low neckline, and it went almost all the way down to her ankles.

Suddenly, Lizzie spoke up behind her, "You look great, Jo."

Josie turned to see Lizzie sitting on the edge of her bed smiling at her, "Thanks." She blushed a little and went to take off the dress.

"Wait, come here." Lizzie beckoned before Josie could unzip the dress again.

Josie went and sat next to Lizzie before saying, "Okay, what?"

Lizzie took Josie's hands in her own and said, "Look, Jo, as much as I want to know everything about your budding relationship, and as much as it stings that you won't tell me, it's okay. I understand that you need time, and that's okay. I'll be hear to listen when you're ready."

Josie didn't respond to her sister's heartfelt words, she just smiled at her and took a deep breath. She sensed that as much as Lizzie wanted to be okay with it, she wasn't. She knew that it was only a matter of time before this came between them. But still, she was touched by her sister's attempt at understanding.

Lizzie droped her hands and said, moving past her display of emotions, "So, how are you going to do your hair?"

"I'm not sure yet. What do you think?"

She took a second to visualize different styles, "I think your hair would look good up or down with that dress. But, if it's down, you should curl it. And, if its up, a bun would go well with that dress. A bun with that dress would make you look older." She hummed and allowed a small smile to cross her lips, "Either way, you're going to look great."

Josie was a little overwhelmed at the moment and decided to leave her hair style decision for another day. "Okay, thanks, Liz."

They both stood and Lizzie helped Josie unzip her dress before Josie shrugged out of it and put on the clothes she was wearing earlier.

When she was dressed again, Lizzie asked, "Hey, want to go get dinner? We haven't spent much time together recently, and we should talk."

Josie smiled but it was tight-lipped and forced, "Sure, that would be great." 

Lizzie was trying to patch things over, and Josie appreciated it. But, she didn't want the conversation to turn towards Penelope again. She wasn't ready yet, and Lizzie knew it. But, Josie also knew that the conversation was inevitable. It wouldn't happen tonight, because Lizzie was trying her best to avoid it, but it would happen soon. It was just a matter of time.

The two girls left to go get dinner together like they had before Penelope happened. It was nice, for a short amount of time the girls put the secret Josie kept out of their mind and acted like nothing had happened. It felt like old times, almost even normal.

Josie sighed as she shut the door behind them and mentally prepared herself to listen to Lizzie talk about school and boys and the dance for an hour, knowing that she could take over the conversation if she wanted to. But, she didn't. She wanted bask in the past for as long as she could before the reality of their situation hit them both like a truck.


	17. Game Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few days since I have updated, but this chapter is really long and I wanted to make sure I got it the way I wanted it to be. Hope you enjoy!

The next morning, Josie awakens to find a new text from _Pen_ waiting for her at the top of her notifications. Even her phone knew Penelope was more important than a few random tweets. Before she even opens it, Josie smiles because Penelope sent her a good morning text.

When she opens it, it reads, "Good morning, JoJo. I hope you slept well. Want to come over tonight and have a game night?"

Her smile grows larger. Immediately loving the idea, she writes back, "Sounds great. Want to meet in your room at around 6?" It wouldn't have mattered what Penelope had suggested for them to do, Josie just liked spending time with her, and generally just being around her.

Josie doesn't think Penelope will respond for a while, but as soon as she locks her phone, it buzzes with a new text message alert.

After she types in her passcode again, she opens the response from _Pen_ , and reads, "Perfect, see you then :)"

Having started her say off in a good mood because of Penelope's texts, Josie is in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Humming something when she is getting ready. Diligently doing her work in class and handing it in with a smile. Saying good morning to her sister when she wakes up. Smiling at everyone in the cafeteria at breakfast and lunch.

Normally, Josie would do most of these things anyways, that was just who she was, but today she did it with even more pep than usual.

Eventually, Lizzie catches on, "Josie, why are you in such a good mood? You're like a freaking cheerleader who's vying for captain. What happened?"

Even Lizzie's thoughtless remarks couldn't bring her down, "I don't know, it's just been a good day." Josie sighes in content and looks at the clock as she's doing her homework after school. 

"5:30," Josie reads to herself. _Only half an hour longer_ , she thinks.

When the clock rolls to 5:45, Josie starts packing up her stuff and getting ready, anxious to get to Penelope's. 

"What are you doing, Jo? We still have some homework left." Lizzie had been working beside Josie at her own desk, using Josie to help with her own homework. This time was an unspoken tradition. Everyday after school, before dinner, the two of them would sit and do their homework together. Sometimes they would play music, sometimes they would work in silence. Sometimes they would work together, other times they wouldn't. Either way, the hours before dinner were reserved specifically for these homework sessions.

Not letting her academic side freak out about the negligence towards her homework, she replies, "I know. I'm going to finish it later. I have somewhere I have to be."

Lizzie gasps, "Josette Saltzman, do you have a date tonight?"

Josie smirks and her cheeks go red, "I wouldn't call it a date. I just have somewhere I have to be."

Feeling dejected again, Lizzie responds with little enthusiasm, "Okay. Have fun," but keeps her eyes on Josie, not bothering to go back to her homework.

Still not allowing her sister to bring her down, Josie smiles, "I will."

And with that, Josie grabs her phone and walks out of the room, leaving Lizzie to stew alone.

With a satisfying click as Josie closed the door, she turned and padded to Penelope's room with a spring in her step.

When Josie stood outside of Penelope's door, she checked her phone. "5:59," her clock read. _Should I wait a minute or is that crazy?_ Josie pondered.

Deciding to wait a minute, she anxiously watched her phone to see the time change to six. Standing there, outside of Penelope's door, waiting for her clock to change, Josie felt absurd and antsy. 

Absurd because she was just standing outside her door. Antsy because she was a little nervous.

Josie was extremely competitive, and things could get ugly fast when it came to board games. She didn't want to scare Penelope away, but she also didn't want to let her down when she asked for a game night.

When her clock changed to six, Josie sighed and forced her anxieties out of her head.

She knocked gingerly and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Penelope, who immediately stepped aside to let Josie in.

Closing the door behind her, Penelope asked Josie, "How was your day?"

"It was good, how was yours?" Small talk. Josie could do small talk. There was no need to be nervous. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"Also good. So, what board game do you want to play. I know that your dad has a shelf of them in his office that we're allowed to borrow from, and you know that shelf best, so you can choose."

"Okay, do you want me to go get them?"

"Sure. Are you hungry? I could make us food while you do that if you are."

Suddenly, Josie realized that she had forgotten to eat before she came because she was too excited.

"That would be great."

"Cool, what do you want?" Penelope didn't look or sound nervous in the slightest, which just made Josie more nervous.

"Um, I don't know. Whatever you want is good." Josie didn't really know how these things were supposed to go. Were they supposed to choose together? Or was one of them supposed to choose, while the other one decided if they wanted that too? Besides, she was really indecisive because she was afraid of making the wrong choice.

"Hmm, okay, do you want a sandwich?"

"Sure." Josie wasn't sure why she was so nervous right now. Just yesterday she was confident and flirty. But right now, her hands were shaking and it felt like this was a first date.

Wait. Maybe it was? Food is a date thing, right? But, then again, everyone eats and it was dinner time.

Penelope could feel the nerves in Josie vibrating the air around them, "JoJo, you okay?"

"Yep. I'm good." Josie couldn't pry her eyes off the floor.

Hearing the clipped response, Penelope took a step closer to Josie, "What's wrong?"

Feeling caught in the act and exposed, Josie looked at Penelope a little sheepishly and confessed, "I don't know. I mean, I'm nervous and I don't know why."

Penelope chuckled and looped her fingers between Josie's, "I'm nervous too. It's good that we're nervous. It means that we want this to go well. Don't worry, JoJo, you're doing great."

Every nerve in Josie's hand was acutely aware of every curve in Penelope's. She sighed and squeezed her hand, "Okay." Josie met the other girl's eyes and smiled.

Penelope squeezed her hand back before dropping Josie's and walking to the door, "What kind of sandwich? Ham? Peanut butter and jelly?"

"Peanut butter and jelly is good." Josie walked and stood beside Penelope, grabbing the door handle, "I'll go get a few games."

Both girls parted in separate ways and went to go accomplish their tasks. Josie headed in the direction of her dad's office. Penelope headed towards the kitchen. Divide and conquer.

On her way to her dad's office, Josie passed the fliers her and Hope had hung, and wondered why her dad had decided to throw the party. It was so unlike him.

Reaching her dad's office, she opened the door without knocking, expecting an empty room behind the door. However, Alaric was sitting at his desk, his head buried in a stack of papers.

"Oh, hey dad. I didn't think you would be in here."

His head snapped up, and Josie realized that he hadn't heard her come in. Slowly, his mind sorted through what she said and he responded, "Yeah, paperwork. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to get a board game." Josie went to the shelf and started to pick out a few games.

"Okay. Take whichever ones you want." Alaric went back to his paperwork.

"Thanks." Josie grabbed a few of her favorites: Monopoly, Scattergories, Checkers/Chess, and a regular deck of cards.

Stacking them on top of each other, Josie opened the door before she picked them up.

Her hands full, Josie started to leave, but then saw a flier outside of Alaric's office that made her think of what she was wondering earlier.

Josie decided to ask about his motives, "Hey, dad?"

He looked up from his paperwork to see his daughter's arms filled with board games. He smiled and responded, "Yes?"

"Why are you throwing this dance? I mean, you hate the combination of teenagers and parties."

Alaric chuckles, "That's true."

"So, why are you?" Josie prodded.

"Well, baby, when you came out to us, you said that you had talked it over with someone before. You said that this person had told you that you deserved to be happy. And, it sounded like this person was important to you. I thought that if you had chosen then to come out, with their help, then whoever it was, was special. I thought that you two deserved a chance. Normally, I wouldn't approve of someone so fast, but if they helped you through this then I thought I should give them the benefit of the doubt, at least until I learned more. I also wanted to show that I cared. Besides, it would be good for everyone to have a little fun."

Touched, Josie replied, "So, you're throwing it for me?"

"It's for everyone but, yes, I'm throwing it for you." He smiled a little bashfully, like he hadn't intended for her to ever find out.

"Whatever happened to no special treatment?" Josie teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Like I said, it's not just for you. Midterms are coming up so I thought that everyone could use a break. After you came out, when we were hugging, I was thinking of ways I could ensure that whoever it was that you talked to had a chance. I thought that a school dance would be a place that could happen. It's public, so there are more people to help ease nerves, and you're surrounded by your friends."

"Oh. Thanks, dad, it means a lot." Josie didn't exactly know how to respond to this influx of information. She was touched, but she couldn't help but think of all the ways this could have backfired, and all the ways it had. First, she got rejected by Penelope, and it almost broke her. But, then again, if it hadn't have been for the dance, Josie didn't know if she would have ever gotten up the courage to ask Penelope out or not. And now, they were together. They were happy, Josie was happy. Apparently, the universe had been on their side.

"You're welcome, baby." Alaric stood and walked to Josie, "Here, I'll help." He centered the games on top of each other so they wouldn't fall and waited for Josie to leave so he could close the door behind her.

Josie's arms full of board games stacked on top of each other, she made her way back to Penelope's room and thought about what her father had said. The dance was for her, and whoever her suitor was. It was for her and Penelope, but he didn't know that yet. He had thrown the Halloween Bash in an attempt to show Josie that he accepted her and to help give her a chance with her special person. Josie's mouth fell open as she realized that her dad was basically her wingman in this scenario.

She stood outside of the door and waited for Penelope to return. Josie leaned up against the wall and tried to balance the games.

A few minutes later, Penelope returned holding two plates, each with a sandwich on top, and two water bottles.

Penelope laughed when she realized that both of their hands were full and neither could open the door. "JoJo, can I put these on top of your stack?"

Frowning, Josie replied with uncertainty, "Sure." Even though she hadn't grabbed Jenga, it felt like they were playing it.

She leaned up and put the plates on top and held the water bottles under her arm as she opened the door to let them both in. When the door was open, she set the water bottles down in a chair and turned around to grab the plates back from Josie. 

Josie shuffled inside and set the games down on the floor. "Okay. I brought options. Monopoly, Scattergories, Checkers/Chess, and a deck of cards."

Penelope sat down on the floor and patted the place next to her. Josie sat cross-legged beside her and grabbed her plate.

As both girls ate their sandwiches, they talked. First they talked about their days, and their different encounters with people. They talked a little bit about their friends. Penelope told Josie about the book she was reading. 

The conversation turned to the dance when Josie brightened and said, "I found a dress!"

"That's great! But, I was promised pictures," Penelope reminded her.

"I know, I know. But, I thought it would be better to wait until Friday for you to see it for the first time. You know, so you can look at me and do the speechless thing you always see in movies for a few seconds before telling me how great I look."

"Oh, JoJo, I would have done that either way."

Just as Josie thought that she had gotten the upper hand, Penelope flipped the tables back again. This was Josie's turn to be speechless as her cheeks turned red.

After a beat of silence, the conversation continued again. They talked about their classes and the workloads, and midterms. But, eventually, when the light small talk died down and the room filled with silence, the conversation took a turn for the deeper end.

"Hey, Pen?"

"Yes, JoJo?"

"Do you want to tell people about us? I mean, Lizzie is dying to know who I'm going to the dance with."

"Of course, why not? Unless, you aren't ready? I don't mind either way." Penelope knew that it was different when you first came out, she had gone through it too. She just wanted Josie to be comfortable.

Josie sighed, "I'm ready, at least, I think I am. It's just, this is so new to me and I don't know how people will react. I haven't told Lizzie yet because I knew she would have so many questions that I can't answer yet."

"Okay, first of all, we will only tell people if you are ready. Second, if people don't react well when they find out about you, if they say one thing that's out of line, I will make them regret it. Don't worry, JoJo, I always have your back. I'm your knight in shining armor, remember? And finally, what questions would she ask that you can't answer?"

Smiling at Penelope's threat to people if they don't accept her, and her thinly veiled reference to the night they crossed paths outside, Josie answers her question, "I don't know. She will ask so many questions, about you, about us. Like, how we met, how we got together, who asked whom to the dance. I can answer most of them but I don't know if I want to. Lizzie will try to put a glass wall up in front of our relationship, and I don't know if I want that. I like this, us, here, alone in your room. It's cozy and private and safe from the rest of the world. Once Lizzie knows, it's safe to assume that everyone will know. And, then what happens?"

"Nothing will change our time in this room, I promise. When people find out about us, things will change, but not a lot. We're a couple, and that changes the dynamics of the atmosphere. But, it doesn't change us, okay?"

Josie smiled at Penelope and thought about what she said. She grabbed Penelope's hand and interlaced their fingers. As long as Penelope was by her side, everything would be okay. People could talk all they wanted, but Josie decided that she didn't care. As long as Penelope was there, nothing else mattered.

She squeezed her hand and nodded, "Okay. I'm ready. As long as you're here, I'm ready. I'll tell Lizzie later and she can do the heavy lifting of telling the rest of the school for us."

Both girl's plates were empty so they stacked them and set them aside. They brushed their hands off and started to pick a game. 

Penelope grabbed Monopoly, held it up and said, "Are you in it for the long game?"

"With you? Always." Josie had forgotten about the girl that was standing outside the door at 5:59, with shaking hands and insecurities. She was comfortable around Penelope, and it was effortless. She was herself, without judgement, and it was intoxicating. In a world where people expected you to be perfect, and would accept nothing less, and you always had to wear a mask to please them, it was nice to have someone you didn't have to do that with.

They set up the game and chose pieces. Josie picked the dog and Penelope chose the top hat. Josie was the bank and Penelope was the property manager.

They settled in next to each other on the floor and began a long game of Monopoly.

When Josie got competitive, Penelope just laughed and did the same. Each girl was evenly matched but after landing on Josie's Mediterranean Avenue, which had a hotel on it, one too many times, Penelope was defeated. When Josie originally bought Baltic and Mediterranean Avenue, Penelope had questioned her. Each property was basically worthless, but Josie knew that they added up if you put enough effort into them. She was kind of pleased with the irony that the places Penelope had doubted were the ones that had done her in. That was usually the case, wasn't it?

Instead of gloating like she would with Lizzie, Josie just said, "Good game," and tipped Penelope's face towards her and kissed her softly.

Penelope leaned into the kiss and put her hand on the back of Josie's head and pulled her closer, burying her hand in her wavy hair.

Josie smiled and broke away, grabbing her money and sorting it into piles to be put away. Penelope did the same and they organized the playing pieces before placing them back in the box.

Josie checked the time and read, "9:47," out loud to Penelope. "It's almost curfew, I should go."

She stood and put Monopoly back on top of the stack. She stretched her legs and twisted her back, sore from sitting on the hardwood floor for over three hours.

Penelope stood and hugged Josie from behind, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

Josie turned and hugged Penelope back. She tilted her head and kissed Penelope goodnight. Josie pulled away and buried her head in Penelope's shoulder, "Thank you for tonight, for the talk and the games."

"Anytime, JoJo." Penelope smiled as she wrapped her arms around Josie.

Sighing, Josie pulled away and grabbed the games, "I'll take these back. Goodnight."

Penelope opened the door for Josie and said, "Goodnight," as she walked out of the door. She closed the door behind her and sighed, wishing she could have stayed.

Josie took the games back to her father's office, and went back to her room. Lizzie was already asleep, so she couldn't tell her tonight. Besides, she was still on a high from game night and this conversation would bring her down.

She put on pajamas and climbed into bed, ready to go to sleep.

She reached over and turned off the lamp, and closed her eyes. Unknowingly, Josie was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your comments and kudos, as always, they are much appreciated!


	18. Now You See Me

The next morning, Josie woke to another text from _Pen_ that read, "Last night was fun, how about a movie night tonight? Same time, same place?"

Josie smiled at the words written on her screen and replied, "Sounds perfect." Then she locked her phone and went about her day with the same sickeningly happy attitude she had the day before, all because of Penelope.

After floating through her day, Josie ended up back at her desk with a pile of unfinished homework from the day before coupled with a stack from today. She had betrayed her promise to herself to finish it later because game night with Penelope had ended later than she thought it would, not that she was complaining, and she didn't want to work on it after.

She still hadn't gotten a chance to tell Lizzie yet. Josie had barely seen her all day. She was no where to be found now for their homework session after school, and she hadn't sat with her at lunch. It felt like Lizzie was avoiding her. Maybe she was.

Josie put on music and started to suffer through Potions equations, trudge through History of Magic essays, and endure a report for Spells.

When she finally broke free from her homework coma, she checked her phone to see it say, "5:57," which sent her heart into a frenzy. She was going to be late for her date. Was it a date? It didn't matter, she just wanted to remain punctual.

She raced around her room getting ready and was able to arrive outside Penelope's door at 6:07. She took a deep breath and knocked. The door opened and Penelope smiled.

Josie rushed through her words, "I'm sorry I'm late. I was knee deep in homework and I lost track of time."

Penelope laughed and looked at the clock on her bedside table, "It's only seven minutes, JoJo, its okay."

This seemed to allow Josie to calm down a bit. But her heart sped up again when Penelope added, "We can reschedule movie night if you need to do homework instead."

"No! I mean, no, it's okay." Josie tried to her best to recover from her desperate cry. "I would rather do this with you than homework." She grabbed Penelope's hand and looped her fingers around her's. She tilted her head to look into Penelope's eyes, which she noticed had a certain sparkle in them.

Penelope smiled at Josie and replied, "Okay."

After staring into each other's eyes for a moment, Josie dropped the other girl's hand and asked, "Do you want popcorn?

Smiling, Penelope answered, "Yes, please."

"Okay, I'll go make some. You can pick the movie while I'm gone." Josie turned and walked to the door, opened it, and went to make popcorn. It was one of the few things Josie could cook.

Penelope grabbed her laptop, sat down on her bed and started scrolling through movies. She read some of their descriptions before she read one that intrigued her. Picking that one, she queued up _Now You See Me._

 _Now You See Me_ was a movie about magicians who were also con artists. Penelope thought it sounded good and she hoped Josie would like it. After all, she didn't know what kind of movies she liked.

She set the laptop down on the foot of her bed and waited for Josie to return.

After a few minutes, Josie came back into the room carrying a giant bowl filled with popcorn. She settled in next to Penelope on the bed and put the bowl half in her lap and half in Penelope's.

"Thanks. The movie I picked is called _Now You See Me_. I've never seen it before, but it sounded good. I hope you like it, I don't know what kind of movies you like."

"I don't know what kind of movies you like either." Josie paused to think about this before saying, "Anyways, I'm sure the movie you picked will be fine."

Penelope grabbed a piece of popcorn and pushed play on her laptop. Then, she put her arm around Josie and Josie leaned into her.

The two sat there in that position happily watching the movie until the end credits. By the end, the popcorn bowl was empty with only a few stray kernels at the bottom. Both girls suddenly realized how dark it was in the room, the sun had set during the movie and Penelope didn't have any lights turned on.

Penelope pulled back her arm from Josie and leaned over and turned on a lamp, "I liked it, did you?"

Josie blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, "Yeah, I thought it was great."

Penelope smiled, "Good, it's almost 8. Do you want to watch another movie? When I found this one, I also learned that it has a sequel, _Now You See Me 2_."

Josie knew that it would be pushing curfew, but she didn't care. "Sounds great. Should we make more popcorn?" Josie gestured to the empty bowl in their lap.

"Most definitely."

"Cool. I'll be right back." Josie grabbed the bowl and left the room to make more while Penelope queued up the sequel.

Penelope was happy. She wasn't used to feeling so at peace and blissful. Deciding she could get used to it, she put the laptop back down at the bottom of the bed in the middle so both girls could see it.

Josie returned once again with a bowl filled to the brim with popcorn, settled back into the position she had been in earlier, and put the bowl between them.

Penelope pushed play, turned off the lamp and put her arm back around Josie.

Somewhere along the way between the beginning of the movie and the end, between meeting Harry Potter and a near death experience, the girls fell asleep. Not because the movie wasn't interesting, but because both were comfortable and tired, and all of the lights were off. The darkness was inviting and both girls fell into a sound slumber by each other's side.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly, both girls were jarred awake by Penelope's early alarm. It took them a minute to recount the previous evening's events. When they did, they both simultaneously realized that they had fallen asleep during their second movie.

Josie gasped and jumped up, saying, "Oh no. We fell asleep."

Penelope stood up and stretched, she walked over to Josie, who was furiously pacing, and said, "I know. Its okay, we can watch the movie again sometime."

She wasn't getting why Josie was so upset. Josie explained, "No, that's not it. I never went back to my room last night. The room I share with Lizzie. She's going to think I slept over with the you, the mystery girl I haven't told her anything about yet."

Penelope put her hand on Josie's arm and tried to calm her, "Hey, it's okay. Just explain to her what happened. I'm sure she'll understand."

"This is Lizzie we're talking about, she's not going to believe me." Josie put her hand on her forehead in worry.

Penelope drew Josie into a hug and said, "It's going to be okay."

Josie sunk into Penelope's touch and let herself believe for a second that everything would, in fact, be okay. Sighing, she replied, "I don't know."

"I know. Whatever happens, it will be okay. So what if Lizzie doesn't believe you, does it matter?"

"I don't know. Kind of, I guess. I mean, I haven't told her anything about you because I didn't know if I was ready for everyone to know yet. I was going to yesterday, but I didn't get a chance. But now, if she thinks I've slept with you without even telling her who you are, she's going to be upset. She'll think that I don't trust her enough to tell her anything or something. She was already upset when I wouldn't tell her who you were when she asked. We were so close to going back to the way things used to be, and I don't want this to mess it up."

Penelope hadn't realized how much this meant to Josie, or how serious it was. "Oh. Okay. Just try to explain to her what happened. If you're ready, you can tell her about me. If you're not, then I understand. Either way, you should explain to her what happened last night and assure her it's not what she thinks."

"Yeah." Josie wrapped her arms around Penelope and added, "Anyways, thanks for last night. It was nice."

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?"

Josie put her forehead against Penelope's for a second before she broke free from Penelope's grasp and said, "I should go. I don't have time to talk to Lizzie this morning, but I will whenever I get the chance. That is, if the whole school doesn't already know."

Penelope looped her fingers through Josie's and replied, "Okay. Do you want to meet up again tonight?"

"I do, but I need to check on Lizzie first. I'll text you." Josie squeezed Penelope's hand before turning and walking to the door.

Before Josie could leave, Penelope added, "I know it wasn't exactly ideal, but I liked waking up next to you." Even if it was just because they fell asleep watching a movie. Even if nothing happened between them before. Penelope wasn't concerned about that. She just loved the fact that Josie's face had been the first one she had seen.

Josie turned and smiled at her, "Me too. I slept better last night than I had in a while." Suddenly, Josie didn't care so much about what Lizzie thought. She just cared about what Penelope thought.

Josie sighed and twisted the door handle, using Penelope's words against her, "Until next time, Pen." 

And with that, she opened the door, closed it behind her and scurried off to get ready to face Lizzie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the comments and kudos, they are very much appreciated.


	19. When Worlds Collide

When Josie was making her way to her room, she was met with the quiet peacefulness of the early morning. It felt like she could breathe again. Sometimes she just needed a little silence to help her gather her thoughts.

And today that's what happened. She thought about what Penelope had said. I mean, did it really matter if Lizzie didn't believe her? Was that really her problem, if she was telling the truth but Lizzie refused to listen?

Josie knew that the battle between the two sides of her brain had been raging for years. But, no matter how hard the selfish side fought, the selfless side always won. So she just sighed and continued her own version of the walk of shame, knowing it was a futile attempt to think of any other way this could play out besides wholeheartedly caring.

Because, truthfully, she did care. Her sister's opinion mattered to her, even when she wished it wouldn't, and it was probably the opinion she held in the highest regard. She wanted to be able to put Penelope's opinion first, or none at all, but it just wasn't in her DNA.

She reached her room and carefully opened the door to find Lizzie still sound asleep. Maybe she could make it look like she had just came in after she fell asleep and woke up early.

After considering it for a minute she realized that it wouldn't work. Lizzie had probably waited up for her until the wee hours of the morning. There was no getting out of this one.

Josie tip-toed around the room, careful not to wake Lizzie. Six in the morning wasn't the right time for this. 

She got ready and finished her morning routine, finding that Penelope had already left by the time Josie had arrived at the bathroom. As if this wasn't enough of a let down, Josie found her sister to be gone when she got back to her room, too. It wasn't a let down, more of a relief, but it was also kind of scary. Who knew where Lizzie was, what she was thinking?

Josie spent the entire day waiting for the other shoe to drop, thinking that Lizzie would come bursting in at any moment, or that people would be talking about Josie behind her back. The paranoia ate at her all day.

And just when she thought she was going to be able to breathe again, when the final school bell rang, Josie found Lizzie in their shared room, on the verge.

Lizzie was furiously pacing, and it looked like she had been waiting for Josie.

When she heard the door open, she turned and glared at Josie before hissing, "I thought sex was supposed to happen after a dance, not before."

Well, this certainly got off to a good start.

"Lizzie, please, just let me explain," Josie attempted.

Lizzie huffed and crossed her arms. She didn't say anything, but she nodded to let Josie know to go on.

Josie wrung her hands, "Nothing happened. We were watching a movie and we fell asleep. I swear, nothing happened."

"Sure. I mean, why would you tell me if anything happened anyways?"

"It's the truth!" Josie took a deep breath and added in a calmer tone, "Please, Lizzie, you have to believe me. I'm not lying."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Lizzie was back on the offensive. Apparently, the paranoia was eating at her too.

"Because I'm your sister, and I wouldn't lie to you."

The reminder of their sisterly bond seemed to break through some of Lizzie's walls, but not all.

She quickly regained her attitude and said, "Fine, Jo, whatever," before turning and storming out of the room.

Josie knew she should go after her, but she also knew that it would probably be better if Lizzie didn't see her face for a while. Besides, she didn't think she had the energy to go another few rounds right now.

Maybe a few hours apart would let Lizzie calm down enough that they could talk it out. She sighed and considered this. Maybe she should just go ask if she could stay at Penelope's again. No, that was what had gotten them into this mess and it wouldn't help if it happened again. 

Maybe she should go ask if she could stay at Hope's. She sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. It didn't seem like there was a good way to go about this. Should she give Lizzie space? Or should she try again to convince Lizzie she wasn't lying?

Josie sat on the edge of her bed watching the clock turn for an hour, silently debating her options. After another minute passed, she wondered if Lizzie was coming back at all.

Maybe it was best that she wasn't here when Lizzie got back. She got up and grabbed her phone, ready to text Penelope that they could meet up tonight, but thought better of it before texting, "Hey. I'm sorry, but I don't think tonight is a good night."

She sighed and waited for a response. When it came, it helped ease her nerves. It read, "That's okay. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

Penelope was so caring. She was trying her best to make sure that Josie was okay, but Josie didn't know how to answer that. Was she okay? This happened all the time with Lizzie, but no one had ever stopped to ask if Josie was okay. They only ever asked Lizzie if she was. She didn't realize until this exact moment how much Lizzie's episodes affected her, how much they took a toll on her too.

She typed out, "No, I'm not okay," but didn't press send. This was a lot for anyone to deal with, let alone someone who's never dealt with it before. Was telling Penelope the right thing to do? Penelope cared, but what if she didn't get it?

But what if she did?

Without letting her fear overtake her, she pressed send before she could second guess herself.

She anxiously awaited Penelope's response, hoping that she had made the right decision.

Her phone buzzed and Josie quickly opened it, reading, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Maybe she had made the right decision. She typed out, "Can I come over?" Her finger hovered over send for a second before she pushed it and waited.

"Of course, JoJo."

And with that, she stood and made her way to her safe haven, the one place that was separate from the rest of the world.

She stood in front of Penelope's room, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, and knocked.

Within a second, the door was opened for her to enter.

After Josie was standing inside of her room, Penelope said again, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Josie made her way to Penelope's bed and sat down. "Not really."

"That's okay, we don't have to talk. What can I do?"

"Hold me."

Those two words was all it took for Penelope to go to her bed and take Josie in her arms. She held her until she heard the girl in her arms breathing slow, and Penelope knew that Josie was asleep. 

Penelope shifted so Josie could be more comfortable and stroked her hair. There was something about the person she cared for falling asleep in her arms that made her feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Some time later, Josie's phone buzzed. Penelope quickly grabbed it and silenced it, but not before it could cause Josie to stir.

Josie sat up and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She had fallen asleep, in Penelope's bed, in Penelope's arms, again.

Penelope smiled at Josie's just-woke-up haze, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Hey, JoJo."

Josie grabbed her phone, seeing a text from her dad waiting for her. "Can you come to my office?" It was a simple text, yet it immediately stole all of Josie's comfort. It was ominous.

She stood and stretched, saying, "I have to go."

Before Josie could make her way to the door and leave, she felt Penelope's arms around her once again. 

Penelope turned Josie so she was looking into her eyes, "Are you okay?" Penelope wasn't letting Josie leave until she was okay again. It didn't matter who needed her, if Josie needed time then they could wait.

Josie smiled, "Yes, I'm okay. Thank you." She wanted to say thank you for caring enough to ask me that. She wanted to thank Penelope for holding her until she fell asleep. She wanted to thank her for just being there for her.

But it seemed like Penelope got what she was trying to say when she smiled and replied, "Anytime, JoJo," before hugging her tightly and releasing her.

Josie would have stayed in that hug forever, where the world couldn't touch her. Where she felt safe. 

But she couldn't. As much as she wanted a way out, she knew that she had to face this head on, or else nothing would get better. So she just sighed and gave Penelope one more small smile before turning and, doing what took so much effort, leaving.

As she stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her, she realized that she felt a lot lighter than she had when she arrived. The weight of the world was no longer on her shoulders.

She made her way to her father's office, dreading every step she took. Before she turned the door handle, she took a deep breath and exhaled.

She opened the door to find her father and her sister waiting for her. Her sister's face was tear streaked and her father's was stone cold. This couldn't be good.

"Josie, thank you for coming so quickly. We want to talk," Alaric said as he put one hand on Lizzie's shoulder. This sounded a lot like what he said at her intervention.

Hoping this wasn't another one, Josie smiled and replied, "Sure, what's going on?"

Alaric cleared his throat and began, "Well, Lizzie came to me about an hour ago and told me about last night. She said that you never came back to your room. Is this true?"

Josie felt like she was in trouble even though she didn't do anything wrong. It was all a misunderstanding. "Yes," she managed, "But it's not what you think."

"I haven't said what I think yet, Josie." Alaric spoke in a tone that seemed forced, yet forceful at the same time.

Josie gulped and replied in a small voice, "Okay."

"I'm going to try my best to remain impartial until I hear both sides of the story, but Lizzie has already told me her's. You never came back to your dorm last night, and I think that speaks for itself."

"Please, just let me explain. It's not what it looks like."

Alaric took a calculated breath and said, "Okay, tell us your side of the story."

"The reason I never came back last night is because we were watching a movie and fell asleep. I promise, Lizzie, it's not what you think."

"Who is we?" Alaric prodded.

"Does that really matter?"

"I think, for the sake of this situation, yes."

Lizzie had been quiet up until this point, but she wore a look on her face as if she had won. The only problem was that it wasn't a competition.

"Look, you can believe me or not. Telling you who I was with is irrevelant. Nothing happened, we were watching a movie and fell asleep because it was late and we were tired. That's all that matters." Josie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Josie, I respect your privacy." Alaric glanced at Lizzie, who's face had dropped but he chose to ignore that, and back to Josie, "We respect your privacy. And I believe you. Even though you aren't giving us the full story, it's okay."

Why was he doing this? He was taking her side over Lizzie. That never happened.

And Lizzie knew that. She finally spoke up, only to protest, "But, dad-"

But Alaric didn't waver, "Lizzie, I know. Think about if you were in Josie's place, you would want to be able to have some privacy too."

Putting herself in other people's shoes wasn't exactly Lizzie's forté, but she tried. After one more hateful glare towards Josie, she said, "Fine. I guess I would." She rolled her eyes, but wouldn't look at Josie.

Alaric patted Lizzie on her shoulder and removed his hand, "Alright, now that that's settled, the dance is tomorrow. I assume I will be meeting the other half of 'we' then?"

Josie smiled at the thought of Penelope, "Yes, you will."

"Okay then. Girls, have a good evening. Play nice, please." With that, it seemed their conversation was over as Alaric went back to sit at his desk.

Lizzie stood and the two girls walked side by side back to their room together, not saying a word the entire time.

After they were both in their room, Josie finally broke the silence, "Lizzie, are we okay?"

Lizzie sighed and a look of contemplation flashed across her features. It looked like she wanted them to be okay. "Yes, Jo, we're okay."

Josie exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. She smiled and replied, "Thank you."

Lizzie sat down on her bed and waited for Josie to join her. When she did, she said, "Look, Jo, I've tried to be okay with this. But, not knowing is killing me. And I don't want to push you, but I can't take it anymore. When will you tell me?"

Josie knew this was coming. From the minute Lizzie had said she was okay with it, Josie had known she wasn't. It was okay, though, Josie was ready now. "How about now?"

Lizzie brightened and nodded. It seemed like this was already beginning to mend their strains.

"But, would you rather I showed you?" Josie didn't know how to put it into words. Well, she did, but she wanted to have Penelope by her side when she did.

"I don't care, Jo. Just, please." Lizzie said please like this was all she had wanted. Maybe by going to their dad, it was her way of showing that. She had probably thought that Alaric would force Josie to tell them. If all Lizzie had wanted was the truth, then it was an easy problem to fix.

Josie pulled out her phone and held up a finger, signaling Lizzie to wait one more minute. She texted _Pen_ and said, "Hey. I know we haven't talked about this, but can you come over? I'm going to tell Lizzie and I thought it would be better to show rather than just tell."

Within a minute, she responded, "On my way."

After another minute, there was a knock on the door. Josie stood and went to get it.

She opened it to see Penelope standing there, smiling at her. Josie took a deep breath and looked at Penelope with an expression she hoped said, "Here goes nothing," before stepping aside to let her two worlds collide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts? As always, thank you for the comments and kudos!


	20. Sparks Fly

Penelope took one tentative step into the room, stepping foot into it for the first time. She wanted to take it all in, the way Josie had the first time she was in her room. Her eyes scanned her surroundings.

Two desks, one clearly Josie's. It was organized. There were flash cards and multicolored highlighters. An open textbook laid on it with an open notebook next to it, the notebook Josie had lent Penelope what seemed like so long ago.

The notebook was so much more than just pages of paper and strokes of an ink pen. It was part of their story. Penelope remembered the day she gave it back to Josie. When she had set it down, her fingers had grazed Josie's arm. She remembered what that felt like. For the entire class period, her knuckles had been on fire, in desperate need to touch Josie again. It was like her nerves had been begging for it.

If Josie hadn't given Penelope her notes, Josie wouldn't have had the chance to ask her to the dance. If Josie hadn't given Penelope her notes, Penelope never would have made accidental contact with Josie. It was a series of dominoes, perfectly planned with a shaky execution. But it was history, it was their history.

Two beds, the one on the right belonging to Josie. It was perfectly made, with fluffed pillows and an extra blanket thrown on top. A bedside table sat next to it, with a book atop it, a lamp accompanying the table.

Penelope felt like the book was important too. And it was, but only Josie knew why. She hadn't been able to sleep one night so she had picked it up to pass the time. Then, some time later, Penelope had knocked on her door.

That was the night they had their first kiss. That was the night when the shaky execution turned into flawless movement.

There was a small dresser in between the two beds. A speaker was in the middle, the speaker that Josie used to play Penelope's playlist, but that was where the shared objects ended. Lizzie's side had an abandoned glass of water on it, along with a crumpled up piece of paper, a pencil, and a hair tie. Josie's side was immaculate, bare of any clutter.

The room was organized chaos, the twin's personalities battling. It was clear that Lizzie was winning, the decorations seemed closer to her style, but the spaces that were soley Josie's emanated her. Her presence was just a whisper here and there, but it spoke louder than you would think.

As Penelope finished her first observations, she hoped that this wouldn't be the last time she was in this room.

Her eyes came back to rest on Josie before flicking over to her sister. The blonde had her arms crossed while a scowl took up residence on her face.

Penelope Park. Lizzie couldn't believe it. How could Josie fall for her?

Lizzie was standing now, watching Penelope. When she saw that she had her attention, she said, "Penelope Park. So, you're the one who turned my sister gay?"

Penelope didn't know what she had expected from this meeting, but this wasn't it. She couldn't help but say, "Well, I do have that effect on people," before defending Josie, "But, no, Josie has always been pan."

Josie felt like she was watching a slow motion car crash, standing just close enough she could hear the axles screech as they were trying to brake, but not close enough she could do anything about it. She was just enough in range that the crash would effect her too.

"Yes, Park, I'm aware." Lizzie spat back at her. It seemed as though Penelope had the upper hand in this situation and Lizzie didn't know how to handle that. Josie had chosen Penelope, but she was stuck with Lizzie. Something about the fact that Josie might pick Penelope over her one day made Lizzie very afraid. The one person who was supposed to be guaranteed to be there for Lizzie was her twin, but what would happen if she wasn't anymore?

From the looks on the their faces, and the general feeling in the room, this wasn't going well. Josie stood beside the two girls during their face down, silently looking back and forth at the two, unsure of what to do.

Penelope just smiled at Lizzie and took Josie's hand, almost as if she was claiming her territory. Like she had won the prize.

Sparks flew between the two, but not in a good way. Penelope and Lizzie were the kind of people who didn't get along with other people who were similar to them.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did bring up complications for Josie. The two had dominating personalities, and they would always clash.

The tension filling the air was thick, it felt like Josie was breathing in smog. It was choking her, cutting off her oxygen supply.

She dropped Penelope's hand and stepped toward Lizzie before clearing her throat and trying to lighten the mood with a lilting tone, "So, Liz, this is Penelope." Josie didn't know why she was introducing her, Lizzie knew who Penelope was. They had never directly interacted, but pointed words had been thrown countless times and everything was a competition between them. Even now, with Josie.

Josie had always wondered why the two never got along. She guessed it was because they were too alike. But maybe it was because of her. Penelope had always had a thing for her, and it was obvious. Lizzie had always taken claim to Josie, but Lizzie saw the way Penelope looked at Josie. Maybe Josie was the root of their long standing unspoken feud.

Josie was determined not to let this turn into a competition too. She needed them to get along, for her sake. "Um, look, I know you guys have had your differences in the past and all, but, uh, can you please try to work past them?"

The two girls hadn't broken eye contact, engaged in a smug staring contest. Penelope was the first to drop when she looked at Josie and said, "For you, JoJo, anything." She turned to Lizzie and became the bigger person, "Can we start over?"

Lizzie set her jaw and looked between the two. She had wanted things to get better between her and Josie, and this was how that could happen. If she didn't approve of Penelope, then Josie might pull away from her. The thing was, though, she didn't approve of Penelope, but Josie didn't have to know that yet.

Penelope was an evil, heartless witch who would bulldoze anyone standing in the way of her path, and Lizzie wasn't going to let her hurt her sister. But, she was at an impasse. If she said something, Josie would never forgive her. If she didn't, Josie could get hurt.

Lizzie would always be there to pick up the pieces, and Penelope made Josie happy for the time being. If she said anything, it would only hurt their relationship and then nothing would get better. It seemed like there was really only one clear option.

So, she pasted on a forced smile and replied, "Sure."

That obviously made Josie very happy, who had been looking expectantly at Lizzie, because she broke out into a grin at the one word answer.

Lizzie would never fully approve of Penelope, and Josie knew that it was only a matter of time before she started using passive aggressive comments to show it, but at least she was trying.

That seemed to be Lizzie's theme recently, trying to be a nicer person for the sake of Josie. Maybe when she thought she had lost Josie it had scared her into thinking she would.

Josie clasped her hands together gleefully and said, "Thank you!"

Penelope saw the girl in front of her and wondered how she had gotten so lucky. Sure, she didn't like Lizzie, but she would do anything to make Josie happy. So, if playing nice with Lizzie meant Josie was happy, then she was going to play nice, no matter how hard it was.

Who knew? Maybe Penelope and Lizzie could actually become friends. At the very least, frenemies. Either way, Penelope vowed to try with her.

Penelope offered a small smile to Lizzie as a peace offering before gingerly grabbing Josie's hand and swinging it back and forth for a second.

Josie hadn't thought that this would go this well. She had thought that there would be a verbal showdown before Lizzie outwardly stated her disapproval of Penelope. But, here they were, a feud being put on the backburner. She smiled in spite of herself.

The three stood in silence for a moment longer, Josie and Penelope connected by their intertwined fingers with Lizzie awkwardly standing alone near them, before Lizzie shook her hands out and said, "Well, um, its late. We have a big day tomorrow."

The was clearly a statement to get Penelope to leave, but Josie didn't pick up on it and agreed, "Yeah, Pen, tomorrow's the dance." Yet another reason for Josie to be happy.

"In that case then, I should be going." Penelope took one more look around the room before she dropped Josie's hand and started towards the door.

Josie walked behind her and caught up to her after two big strides, "I'll walk you."

The two reached the door and Josie opened it. Penelope stood in the door frame, caught halfway between Josie's world and the empty hallway, and faced Josie.

Josie looked into her eyes and said, "Thank you again for today, and for tonight. It means a lot to me."

Penelope sighed and smiled tiredly at her, "Anytime, JoJo. Goodnight," before starting back to her room to fall into bed.

But, before she could leave, Josie grabbed her waist and pulled her into a soft, chaste kiss.

Lizzie watched the two from behind with her mouth agape, still slightly in disbelief and now in horrified shock. 

The two broke apart and Josie bit her lower lip while a smile bloomed behind her eyes, "Goodnight."

Penelope looked once more at Lizzie before returning her gaze to Josie for one more stolen moment. She turned and left, hoping everything would work out, not only with her and Josie, but with her and Lizzie too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always comments and kudos are much appreciated, so thank you.
> 
> Also, the next chapter may be the last chapter of this fic. However, I do have some ideas for a follow up fic but its not set in stone yet, tell me what you think.


	21. The Halloween Bash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. Enjoy :)

Josie woke up the next morning energized. It was the day of the dance and she was excited.

Normally, she wasn't usually one of those girls who lost sleep because of a school dance, but this time she was.

It wasn't just a dance, it was a dance with Penelope, it was a dance where should would basically come out to the whole school. Josie was ready, she didn't want to hide who she was anymore.

She jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom to find just what she had hoped to find by waking up half an hour earlier.

Penelope. She could hear her in the shower again. She recognized the music as her playlist and smiled.

Josie started getting ready and danced along to the beat a little as she did. She was in a really good mood today.

When she heard the shower squeak off and the curtain brush open, she turned around to give Penelope a giant smile.

When Penelope saw it, she couldn't help but grin at the unexpected yet pleasant surprise, "Well, good morning, JoJo."

"Hi!" Josie squealed. It was like her bones were vibrating with happiness and she was overflowing.

Penelope walked to stand beside Josie at the sink and started drying her hair. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept okay, what about you?"

"I slept good. So, are you ready for tonight? Are we still on for seven?"

"Almost, there's just one more thing I have to do, and yep. I'm looking forward to it." Josie started running a brush through her hair and she realized how normal this felt, getting ready for her day while talking to Penelope, who was right next to her getting ready for her day as well.

"Me too," Penelope said before squeezing her hair one more time and adding, "I'm going to go get dressed. Have a good day."

"You too, but before you do, come here," Josie slid her arm around Penelope's waist and kissed her slowly. She pulled away and wrapped the shorter girl into a hug.

All was right with the world when Penelope was in Josie's arms. It felt like the waves had finally seceded and it was low tide. It felt like she could breathe again.

Penelope tucked her head into the crook of Josie's neck and hugged her tighter.

The two stood there for a moment in each other's arms before Penelope knew she had to go get ready and reluctantly pulled away, "I'll see you later."

Penelope grabbed the towel she had been drying her hair with and left the bathroom, the door swishing on her way out.

Josie finished getting ready in silence, only the music playing in her head and not from a speaker filling her thoughts.

She left the bathroom but passed her room on the way back. She had one more thing she needed to accomplish to make this dance perfect.

She padded down the hallways and hoped that this wasn't too early. She suspected that the girl she needed to see was usually up early to go on runs, so this hour would be fine.

Josie stepped in front of Hope's door and knocked lightly, trying not to wake the students in the rooms beside this one. She took a small step back and waited.

After waiting a few seconds, she thought that maybe Hope wasn't here. But then the door swung open to reveal her in workout clothes.

"Hey, Josie, what's up?"

"Good morning, Hope. May I come in?" She didn't want to have a conversation while standing outside, especially at this hour.

"Sure, yeah," Hope stepped aside to grant Josie access and closed the door behind them.

"So, the dance is tonight."

Hope felt like she knew where this was going but she played along anyways, "Yeah?"

"I want you to come, will you?"

Hope leaned slightly and put all of her weight on one foot, "Look, Josie, we've been over this. Dances aren't really my thing. The music is too loud, the punch is always spiked, there's no one for me to hang out with. I could go on but I feel like you get it."

"Yeah, I do get it. But I'm asking you as your friend to please come to the dance tonight. I'll be there and you can hang out with me. Besides, there's someone I want you to meet."

Hope picked up on the little lilt in Josie's voice when she said that and recognition flashed before her eyes, "Is this the person who rejected you the first time?"

"Yes, that's the one," Josie knew that Hope didn't like whoever it was because of the way she had hurt her.

"She hurt you, why are you-"

Josie cut her off before she could bring down her uncharacteristically high mood, "We worked things out. Trust me, we're good."

Hope was still leery. She shifted her weight to her other foot and said, "Okay, I trust you."

"So, will you come? Please?"

Begrudingly, Hope knew that this was a losing battle, so she forced a small smile and said, "Sure." At the very least she could see who had broken Josie's heart once.

"Great! I'll see you then." Josie impulsively hugged Hope but pulled away quickly and raced out the door.

"Yep, I'll see you then," Hope whispered to the half open door Josie left in her wake.

Josie returned back to her room to put back the things she had taken with her to get ready and to grab her belongings for the day.

She made her way to the dining hall for breakfast and sat in her usual spot, beside Lizzie. She ate breakfast and talked with her about the dance, about all of the little things. The hair, the makeup, the jewelry.

Josie had decided to wear her hair down, wavy. She had chosen a small necklace with a red crystal held in by silver metal.

When the bell rang, she said goodbye to Lizzie and went to first period, and the rest of her day. Eventually, she found herself in History of Magic.

She walked in and Penelope was already there, watching the door, waiting for her. When Penelope saw her, her eyes brightened and she gave Josie a small, sincere smile.

Josie returned the gesture with a small grin that she couldn't stop from taking control of her face. She looked at Penelope for another second before she cast her gaze downwards to the floor and went to her seat.

The class went by in a haze, as all Josie could think about was Penelope. It reminded her of when she first started to acknowledge her feelings for her. The way that Penelope was the only thing on her mind at any given time. It had frustrated her, the hold that she had on her. But it didn't anymore. Because when she thought about Penelope it was the happy memories they had made together and the way Penelope looked at her. It was the way her arms felt around her or the way her lips felt on her own. It was the way Penelope made her feel, safe and loved and happy.

So she let her mind wander thoughout the entire class, not bothering to take notes or pay attention to the teacher. No one really was anyways, it was Friday and there was a dance. No one cared.

The bell rang and Josie was jarred back to reality. She sighed happily and gathered her things as everyone else was standing to leave around her.

When she had picked up all of her stuff, the room was silent. Josie thought it was abandoned until she turned around to see Penelope leaning against a table, staring at her.

Penelope approached her slowly and grabbed her free hand, gently caressing the curves of it. She drew little circles around each one of Josie's knuckles, which had healed since the punching bag.

Josie turned Penelope's hand over in her own and ran her index finger along the lines of her palm.

Penelope intertwined their fingers before turning her head to look at the door. Not seeing a soul nor hearing anyone approaching, she turned back to face Josie and leaned up to connect their lips.

Josie leaned down slightly and into Penelope. The kiss was slow, like they didn't have to rush or be afraid.

Josie wrapped her arms around Penelope's waist, pulling her closer. Penelope put one hand on the back of Josie's neck and buried the other in her hair. The kiss deepened, almost as if they felt like this was the only way they could show each other how they felt, maybe even as if it would be their last.

The shorter girl pulled back and touched her forehead to the taller girl's. She smiled and laughed lightly.

Josie smiled at the sound.

They stayed like that for a moment longer before Penelope took a step back and said, "I'll see you later, JoJo."

She turned and walked towards the door. Penelope didn't look back as she exited, as if she knew that Josie was still there, as if she knew that she would see her later.

Josie sighed and waited a second before leaving the way Penelope had and making her way to her room.

She walked in a haze, a happy haze. It was the little moments like that, where it didn't require a lot of words or action, that just felt right.

She opened the door to find Lizzie laying their dresses out on the bed.

"Good, you're here! So, it's almost four now, and our dates will be here in about three hours. That means that we need to start getting ready in about an hour or an hour and a half. What do you want to do until then?" Lizzie asked as she walked over to Josie.

"I don't care. We should probably get something to eat though," Josie pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true. Okay, let's go then," Lizzie huried her sister as she wanted to stick to her own time table.

"Okay, yeah, sure, lets go." Josie set her stuff down on her desk and turned on her heel to open the door.

The twins went to the kitchen and got something to eat, talking casually as they did.

Josie thought it was nice, they hadn't done this in a while and she realized how much she had missed it. She was glad that her secret was out and she didn't have to tiptoe around Lizzie anymore. She could openly talk about Penelope and pretend to ignore the look on Lizzie's face when she did. It would always be a little strained, but it was getting easier.

They ate and went back to their room, with twelve minutes to spare. Lizzie was still worried though, so they started getting ready then.

Josie helped Lizzie with her hair and then did her own, she didn't have to do much to it since it was already naturally wavy.

They applied their makeup, Josie putting on only a light coat and helping Lizzie decide on which shade she should use.

After everything else was done, they slipped into their dresses and zipped each other up.

Josie looked in the mirror before craning her head to look at the clock. 6:47. Right on time.

They two sat on their beds and waited for a knock to come to their door.

When it did, Lizzie jumped up to open it. MG stood outside with a small corsage which he immediately slipped onto Lizzie's wrist.

"Thanks, MG."

MG couldn't take his eyes off of Lizzie. He smiled at her but couldn't seem to form words at the moment.

Josie tried to stiffle her laugh as she knew that MG would find his confidence soon. He would be dragging her onto the dance floor to show off his moves as soon as they played the first upbeat song.

Lizzie turned to Josie and said, "Do you want us to wait? Or are you good?"

"I'm good, go ahead, I'll be there soon," Josie assured and let the two go one ahead of her, leaving her to wait for Penelope.

She watched the clock turn from 6:59 to 7:00 and heard a knock on the door. She took a deep breath and stood, checking her reflection in the mirror before going to open the door.

Josie turned the knob slowly and pulled open the door to be met with a caped-suit Penelope.

Penelope's eyes looked into Josie's before trailing down to look at her dress. They flicked back up to Josie's as her mouth dropped open slightly.

Penelope Park was speechless. It was her who was at a loss for words now. She reminded herself to breathe before saying, "JoJo, you look amazing," in a quiet voice.

Josie smiled at the effect she had on Penelope, "You look pretty good yourself."

Penelope remembered what was in her hands and held out a small box to Josie. She opened it to reveal an elegant corsage.

She delicately pulled it out of the box and slipped it onto the wrist that Josie was holding out. Penelope closed the box and Josie took it from her hands and set it inside her room on her desk.

"Shall we go?" Penelope held out her arm to escort her.

"We shall." Josie looped her arm through Penelope's and took the first step out of her room.

They walked arm in arm to the entrance. The two walked in silence at first, but Penelope spoke up quietly, "I love Halloween. I think its my favorite holiday."

"Really? Why?" Josie looked at her quizzically.

"Its the one day when we're all the same," Penelope paused, "Any other time of the year, witches are freaks. But, for this short time, everyone wants to be one."

Josie had never thought about it like that before, "I've never seen it that way. But, you're right. Witches, werewolves, vamps, we're all seen as the villains. I guess we still are at Halloween too, but it's different. We're the lovable villains instead of the hated ones."

"Exactly," Penelope sighed and let herself dwell on that for a minute. Sure, there were some bad ones, but there were bad humans too. They were misunderstood so much to the point that they didn't stand a chance. If she was being honest, it made her a little bit sad.

Not letting it get her down, she looked at the girl she was escorting and her mood skyrocketted again. They walked in silence the rest of the way, letting the reality of it all wash over them. 

When they stood in front of the double doors leading to the grand staircase, Josie stopped dead in her tracks.

"Hey, you okay?" Penelope asked, concerned.

Her voice broke through Josie's anxieties and she responded, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Before they could take another step, Penelope said, "I'm right here if you need me. It's going to be okay." Penelope knew what Josie was thinking, once they opened these doors their relationship would be out in the open, Josie would be out.

Josie formed a tightlipped smile. She focused on the feeling of her arm on Penelope's and the tightlipped smile she had to force became effortless and sincere.

She took a deep breath, "I know. I'm ready."

Penelope took the first step and Josie followed suit, their footsteps falling into synchronicity. 

The double doors opened and they descended the stairs. Pairs of eyes became trained on them as they squinted to see who had just arrived.

One step at a time, the two walked down the staircase, turning heads as they went.

They reached the bottom and Josie flashed a small and bashful smile at the crowd. The heads turned back and returned to their conversations.

Huh. Maybe this wasn't as big of a deal as she thought it was. Josie felt herself exhale and realized she had been holding her breath since they walked through the doors.

Her eyes scanned the crowd and found Hope, "Hey, Pen, come here. There's someone I want you to meet."

Penelope diligently followed as Josie dragged her towards a red haired girl standing alone in the corner.

"Hey, Hope. This is Penelope," Josie did the customary introductions, despite the fact that they both knew who they were, "Penelope, this is Hope."

Hope's eyes flashed yellow and she quickly looked at the floor, trying to hide it.

She blinked rapidly and said, "Hi."

Penelope had noticed the flash, but she knew it was well deserved, "Hey."

Hope was awkwardly standing at a small round table, with a sparse plate of food and paper cup filled with an unidentifiable drink.

Josie felt the tension, "So, how's the finger food selection?"

"The usual. Mostly chips," she gestured to her plate, which had a few plain potato chips on it. It didn't look like she was having a very good time.

The lack of conversation was deafening. "So, do you want to dance?" The question was aimed at both Penelope and Hope. It was an upbeat song, they could all dance together.

Penelope brightened as Hope did the opposite. "Sure, let's do it."

"I don't know, you guys go." Hope fiddled with a chip.

Josie wouldn't take no for an answer in this case. She grabbed her arm lightly and said, "Come on," before hooking her arm in Penelope's and dragging them both to the dance floor.

They threw themselves into the throng of people and started to movie along to the music. Josie did it instantly, while Penelope followed suit. Hope was basically just standing there, but at least she was there.

After a few songs, Hope had started let herself dance. Josie led through another song before pulling Penelope to the side when she saw her dad watching.

She stood in front of her dad and said, "This is the other half of we."

Alaric lifted an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "Penelope Park." He didn't need to say anything else as Penelope understood the threat behind the way the words were said. She had a reputation, and he knew it. He was saying not to hurt his daughter. He was saying that he had the ability to make her regret it if she did, and he wouldn't hesitate.

"Dr. Saltzman. Hi," Penelope smiled at him and tried to ignore the flight response her body was urging.

His cold gaze disappeared as fast as it had appeared when he returned the smile and attempted to change his tone, "Have fun at the dance girls. Be good."

 _Be good_ meant a lot of things that Josie didn't want to wade through at the moment. So, she muttered a _thanks_ before walking away with Penelope at her side.

On their way back to the dance floor, they encountered MG carrying two cups on his way back to his date.

"Hey guys, whats up?"

"Penelope is my date," Josie cut straight to the point.

MG smiled at Josie before smirking at Penelope, "Peez, you got the girl."

The raven haired girl blushed furiously and cleared her throat. MG smirked at this but didn't make another comment before bouncing away back to Lizzie.

Josie turned to stand in front of Penelope's path and smirked, "So, you got the girl, huh?"

Penelope's line of sight went back to the floor, "Mhmm, yep, I did."

Josie laughed and rolled her eyes, saying, "Come on," and pulling her back to the dance floor beside Hope.

The three danced together for a few more songs. When the beat dropped, Penelope excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Josie pulled Hope aside.

"So, what do you think?"

"Of what? Penelope, or the dance?"

"Both, but mainly Penelope."

"Well, the dance is pretty much what I expected. But it's better with you, even if I am a third wheel. As for Penelope, she isn't who I thought she was. She seems to care about you, and that's good. But she still hurt you once, and I'm not going to forget about that so quickly just because I saw the way she looked at you when you were dancing," Hope added air quotes around _dancing._

"What do you mean?" Josie was confused.

Hope laughed, "It just wasn't exactly dancing, if you asked me."

Josie playfully smacked Hope on her arm, "Hey!"

Hope put her arms up in surrender, "I'm just saying."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Josie looked around for Lizzie, which she spotted was near the edge of the dance floor with MG.

MG was exaggeratingly moving his hips. He walked backwards onto the dance floor and motioned for Lizzie to join him.

Reluctantly, she did. He spun her around and expertly dipped her. Had he been practicing?

He stepped away from her and sashayed to the corner of the dance floor. He rubbed his hands together and did a running flip.

If his goal was to impress Lizzie, it was working. She was standing a little to the side, giving him room to do his thing, watching in awe.

MG did one more little dance before pulling Lizzie back towards him and dancing around her. He pulled her closer and they started dancing in step.

Josie and Hope laughed. They had not expected him to have this much game. If only he could bring the dance floor with him when he tried to woo girls.

Penelope reappeared next to Josie holding two cups of punch. She handed one to Josie and asked, "So, what did I miss?"

Josie took a sip, "MG dancing with Lizzie."

"That would have been interesting. I'm sorry I missed it."

"Don't be, he's going to do it again after seeing the way Lizzie looked at him."

The three watched the rest of the dance die down around them while standing off to the side together.

Suddenly, a song came on the speakers that Josie knew too well. Your Soul.

Penelope smiled and blushed a little. She grabbed Josie's cup and abandoned it along with her own on a nearby table. She drew Josie to the dance floor and pulled her close.

Josie threw her arms around Penelope's neck, "Did you do this?"

Penelope looked to the right of Josie's gaze, "I may have had a little something to do with it, yeah," she smiled bashfully.

Penelope's hands found their way to Josie's waist and they started swaying. "You know, this isn't really a slow dance, Pen."

"It is now, JoJo."

Josie tilted her head to the side slightly and looked at Penelope with a glimmer in her eyes.

They swayed in time to their upbeat song and gazed into each others eyes.

Before the song ended, Penelope posed a question, "JoJo, will you be my girlfriend?"

They basically already were, but putting it so bluntly seemed official. 

But Josie didn't falter, "I would be honored."

Penelope grinned and the edges of her eyes crinkled. They swayed to the music and put their foreheads together in a pure display of affection when the last chorus came on.

Their slow dance continued through the next one as it actually was a slow song playing that time.

The dance was slowly dieing around them, people breaking away in groups of two or three, staggering in the direction of their rooms. 

But they didn't let this discourage them. Hope came up to them at the end of the second slow song and said, "Hey, Josie, I'm going to go. Thank you for making me come to this, and for making it bearable."

Josie pried her eyes off of Penelope and met Hope's gaze, "Anytime. Goodnight, Hope."

Hope smiled and left, leaving Josie to look back into her girlfriend's eyes as another few stumbled out.

Only a few couples were left on the dance floor, and just a few more standing around the tables. The DJ was starting to pack up his extra equipment without turning off the music yet.

You could feel it in the air. The dance was coming to a close. The room got quieter and the rest of the world fell away for one more stolen moment.

Josie leaned down and kissed Penelope slowly before putting her forehead to the shorter girl's.

The two swayed back and forth, completely oblivious to the outside world. 

Josie had been nervous tonight. Nervous of coming out, nervous of the dance not going well, nervous of the people she cared about not approving of Penelope. But, as she had promised, Penelope had been right by her side the entire night, there for every hurdle she had to overcome.

She had proven once again that as long as she was there, everything was okay. Even now, as she knew their perfect night was coming to an end, she didn't mind because she was happy in Penelope's arms. Her knight in shining armor.

Josie would never forget this night of festivities. It was just another part of their long fated history. The universe had been on their side this time, it had been rooting for them. 

But who knew if it always would be? They were young, and first loves were doomed from the very beginning. The two knew that, but they would keep fighting for their relationship. 

Because, this felt right. The way they were each others safe haven, the way they were comfortable around each other, the way they made each other feel loved.

Neither of them had ever felt this way before. It was nice and exciting, but it was also different than anything they had ever experienced. And, they had no idea what they were doing.

But they were doing their best to be their best, for each other. They were doing their best to make each other happy. And that was all that mattered.

So, as the DJ announced that the next song would be the last, they just held each other a little tighter and savored their last moment for the night.

The final song began to play and the music swelled around them. The lights twinkled and dimmed slightly. For now, it was just them. The rest of the world didn't exist for the too short time it took for this song to play.

Penelope lifted her lips to Josie's and let herself lean into the kiss. Josie reached to put her hand in Penelope's hair and the shorter girl cupped the taller girl's face in her own.

They didn't know what this was yet, but it felt like was the beginning of something. Something big, something important. Something that would never fully go away.

They would even go so far as to say that maybe it was love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END.
> 
> If you've read this far, thank you for reading through 21 chapters and over 32 thousand words. Through comments and kudos, I appreciate it all.
> 
> Tell me your final thoughts about it all.
> 
> Once again, thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is much appreciated!


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